The one time, I’d give up time–twice,
as fast as chlorophyll leaves fall
to the ground: blood. Oranges coupled with bitters,
the saving grace: incoherent post-midnight mumblings of the past
day passing, air calms, (eupnea)
Leviathan to break free, locked up in this Loch
Lethargy desiring, to dote its anti-dote, anticipating
the smearing of oil, and the anointed,
return the plastic clamshell, tearing away,
thermoformed around a thermometer’s rising crescent,
carmine colored by parasitic spirits exiting,
into veins cautiously cauterizing
a brand. New. Return to each single second
is not difficult to imagine place to serve,
time in a queen’s single slough, tossing,
turning slowly-recalling at once,
upon a time.

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Author’s Note: leaves turn red due to the lack of sunlight, because the chlorophyll is leaving. bitters is an alcoholic beverage that contains herbal essences and citrus flavoring, some bitters are red and were originally colored by carmine extracted from the cochineal, an insect. eupnea is the medical term for normal breathing. a leviathan is a giant sea monster mentioned in the Bible. a loch is lake in Scotland. anointing is the smearing of oil, usually in a religious ceremony. those annoying-to-open plastic clamshells that products come in are created with heat (thermoformed). a thermometer’s crescent is the temperature’s reading. contemporary thermometers contain red-colored alcohol (spirits) instead of mercury. originally the sealing of veins (cauterizing) was done with hot metal (a brand). a queen as in a queen sized bed. a slough is a valley (see John Bunyan’s Slough of Despond in The Pilgrim’s Progress)