I knew the touch of your soul
You do have one, I know this
As I have claimed it
And it has followed me

A serene thing now, apparently
Unfazed by its reckless training
A balloon in the breeze, its string wrapped safely through my fingers

I walk the pier like I always have
Glazing over my eyes like sugar
Fingers pushed into the cake
Breaking icing lines and
Ruining the aesthetic
Synapses misfiring like faulty warfare
A volcano beneath the still ocean

I feel for the comfort of string
Fingers smooth and clean, I gape

Wrenching heart
Freezing butter
Piercing, shrill
Burning, blind

My prize drifts as I shrink,
I can't run in quicksand
I can't call with muted tongue

Weighted and anchored,
I cry into the dank mist as I allow it to claim me, yet again