i)

I wonder which of us is ghost.

I lift you onto my shoulders and carry you out.

Your bones are light, your grip strong.

Your ragged bandages graze my calves.

I have your emergency,

packed in cold muscle under my ribs. 

The trees have the cadence of your scream.

ii)

Sink here

in litter and soil.

Where this solitary stone furs stagnant

in mudwater, suffocate.

That single star will puncture you.