Trying

A still image photograph
In a painted eye
Sepia tone slide show haze
Graphite scrawls
A page of words
With corners on them

Sharp edged vowels can cut

Tabletop crawls
With a blurred vision of you
Sketchpads and smiles
Articulate utensils
Speaking in smudges

And lines

Shaky hands now
Withered hearing
And the lines just won't talk to me
Like they did before

Parents arguing in another room

I'm trying to listen
But I can't
Make out
The words