Memento Mori
our fate on the end of a chain
cold oval locket, heirloom
engraved in loops
around a cursive: this
silver shell for sweetness
heavy as the axe’s blade
which guides the killer’s body
made killer for a wage
in fifteen words or worse
remember this is what we earned
makes us killers in a way
history corners us in this
rends my chest off my
hinges and unmasks
this unplugged heart
from my trembling ribs
I hang tenderly with twine
lavender and copper bells
just one act
of breathing