Rewind tape, stuck on “hate,” the hypnagogia of the shrillest syllable is depth of field gone, room noise three decibels up, the most jagged of fables.

What I brought into this melting field of lights that shift (from actor to foreground) is an all-consuming flame, all judgment unwound

A mother's love held in a blanket of tape hiss and the warmth of time passed fizzles out as soon as it's through