and then

under a pregnant sky
she vies for the succinctly still
for the moment just before it all breaks loose
and the moment before that
when you smell the rain but don't yet hear it
when you feel the pain but do not fear it
and then the gymnopedie
and then
and then
the mind in pacing
the body in bracing
tinctures of tension
and tonics of tumult
and reckless
reckless
reckless
and then
and then
the drowning
the breathing
the flying
and falling
and then
the mercury
moulder
melancholy
and then
and then