Do Not Forget What I Will Become

Draft for Death of the Abstract Artist

"I am breaking myself into pieces. I am degenerating

into breadcrumbs. I want to follow

the trail back to myself. But it is

winding, and the night is so very warm.

Maine nights used to be cold;

if you stood still enough on the lawn, you might've

just frosted over like the car windshield.

But the nights are now warm; and heavy and bright.

I used to think heat came from sunshine; that

volcanoes were stars that had set roots down

in the earth. And loved so much

that everything in them spilled out.

That preserving cities in ash

was the fate

of any artist. That's why they call them star-crossed lovers, right?

I am an artist on technicality.

And this is what I do; mummify emotions, I am

taxidermizing my sickness.

Do not forget what I will become."

-Sunni Usagi-Koi