to wither:
a lack of water,
where once great magnificence
rooted in the earth
lay splendid in the sun.
a pitiful aspect across /
hot concrete terrain.

a lack of color
that used to exist before.
not yet past,
to regain,
through care
a repose,
of what
was once there.

to touch:
adjudicate effect
from cause.
dangerous, warm, friendly,
bridging the horrible distance
between us.
calm in the calamity
of fragile topology.

thought in all manner
of action and inaction,
to care

to play

a pageant
from the bloody
conscious brain.