Skin Will Erase Everything

Certain smells can remain

for ages

within the gaps

between tissues

of metal, wood, cotton

Skin will erase everything

alien to it self

within hours, at most

a day - the past becoming

what it should be

The past

however

pushing notes

whatever sort – song, lust, love

delivering them as foam

to the shore

our feet walk

will, one day, vanish

into a thin, flat

surface

So thin, we can't

touch it

not even see

properly -

perhaps discerning forms

of living things

and objects

in clouds and shades

is merely an exercise, for later -

the lines on the faces, on the streets, on the houses

and the trees balancing fast

too fast

so fast

our eyes doubt

they put a question mark

on time

For all those reasons

I shift

the weight above my forehead

down one and a half

hand

making it rest

on my

chest – which is

stronger

and doesn't think.

© 2016, José Coelho