beat of this blood

i follow the beat of this blood
curved 'round the corners of this page,
my pen on the line,
poised to fall just before the bullet
is fired.
there's a thick trail of mud
along the backside of my legs,
the dark imprints of my footsteps
a yawning smile behind me,
ready to open and swallow me whole
into the crevasses of this poem,
stretched thin between the moment,
those colours abloom across the
back of my eyelids, bruises forming
against the underside of my teeth
as i bite down again and again
until i'm bleeding along the inseam
of my tongue,
your voice forever a whisper
painted on my lips,
only parted open to gasp
as i start to fall.