It rises through fractures
in floorboards
office walls
a bubbling toxin
with pleasant tones
hot and malignant
it masquerades green
but under the flesh
is red as jilted bone
It travels darkly
like blood through a tube
in a hospital bed
far from home
heaving and swirling
in all directions
it breathes on its own
with downward inflections
You don’t feel the threat
the texture of intention
then one day you freeze
at the grocery store.
The Dark Alive 