Anatomy in Bloom cotton then settles back into the

then settles back into the line

not all at once

Sailors once spoke of such charms as guides for those who sought the ocean’s secret paths

with its wide diagonal bands of colour

pages salt-stained and illegible — save for the sketches: spirals of coral

Anatomy in Bloom cotton then settles back into theThe path is dry today, pale dust lifting around Elsbeths shoes as she crosses the cemetery with a few stems pinched between her fingers daisies, a sprig of blue, whatever was still standing along the path. She pauses at the gate only to push it wider with her hip, then continues on, unhurried. She kneels where the grass has grown uneven and reaches for the chain at her throat, lifting the small copper leg free from where it rests against her chest.