cloudlike piles
opaque not white
coloured yellow by chromate ions
copper blue
electrolyte
my finger runs along the table
picks up a trace on the tongue
I wanted to talk about skin instead
the salty taste of it
as animal covering
preceding the living tissue
below the protective barrier
basement membrane, connective tissues
all those things I needed
to give and take and give
without the language
it was touch and go
a brush, a sigh, a hint only
back to the grain
underneath the colour
the lacrimal fluid
the shading is black post black
abstracted as contrast
a window that opens onto a wall
onto a fluorescent light onto parchment
where you are, now alone
a fragment, and whole
just another woman
as alike as unlike
united by what we know
can’t share
and are sharing in this
public inland space