Ink

Ink
(for PVW III)
Brittany Warman

With ink spilling down my arms, 
        I write your story.
 
Your ghost inside my fingers 
flows out to the paper, black 
stains my hair, nails,
the thin skin of my wrists.

You and I try to build you back 
into this world,
to pull you out of your name,
        the name that lingers here,

a prayer said by those who never knew your smile,
only the name in a newspaper,
the black touching their hands,
a moment
        soon washed away.

Brittany Warman is a PhD candidate in English and Folklore at The Ohio State University, where she concentrates on the intersection of folklore and literature. Her creative work has been published by Mythic Delirium, Stone Telling, Ideomancer, Cabinet des Fees: Scheherazade’s Bequest, and others. You can find her online at http://www.brittanywarman.com/