Alternate Ending (Screenplay #1)

peeling back the layers of
clothing
caked in rust-colored
muddy water
I try to find
the one ounce of breath
still resident

those lungs are
fossilized with youth
this is an inverse process
from yesterday
to proof

fingernail clippings
like newspaper articles
trimmed carefully out
filed into a scrap book
artifact after artifact

mineral deposits of the flesh
she has purple eyes
and violet lips
copper coin lashes
and credit card slips

a modern day machine
a relic from the
prescription cabinet
calipers and cleansers
nail files and numbers
tattooed barcodes

remembered among my
valued possessions
she’s another
remembered transition
a one-time
oracle position

side-saddle
hatch back
doorway
coat rack

no chemise
no maidenhead
sideways glance
you’d think she’s dead

but that’s just sleeping
before heaven calls
before hell relents
before I’m numb again

I’m tattooing her face
into a smile
a simile for satisfaction
affidavit
one distraction