Da Capo Al Fine

To let your own blood with a straight razor
(whether by accident or not)
is to understand how easy separation
can become when you are not thinking

You say, is that ink
The line is so straight
Then it blurs
or perhaps you touch it

One side of the wound
leans away from the other
The brilliance spills over
as if from a jostled cup

Your heart speaks in drumline
as faster comes the flood
If it were not so terrifying
it would be such a danceable beat

You would dance
partnerless in the center of the splatter
as if that first scarlet line
marked the end of a page of music

There above it was the instruction
da capo al fine
take it from the top
all the way to the end

If it wasn’t so terrifying
at once it might be exactly
what you’d most
want to do