Flank and furtive
glimpse of deer,
antlered bone
bereft of velvet—
Swatch of brown
soft as the blur
of powdered moths
that beat upon
the glass.
Mercurial time edged
always with dusk,
you wear me down,
cut me deft: each
year a rivening,
my likeness
in silhouette
to lay against
the years ahead.
In response to Via Negative: Scissor, paper.