Hold

It takes attention        to hold 
     a thought beyond the space of a thought
in the near-immediate wake of its 
            dispersal       

                          To fix a face despite
the sum of its many dispersals 
      takes more       than muscle     
 
                                       I'm amazed
crows have been known to hold       a grudge
            for as long         as 17 years     Imagine
those feathers    darkening        building up a gloss
      from year to year      

                     Brilliant coat which keeps off
the rain      Can you even remember where 
      the wound began           Where light
 
might possibly enter again