This is the product

Of that last post:

Paint Thinner

There's vapor in my throat
And this time of day,
I can't tell if it's mostly drink
Or mostly things I meant to say
It's probably irrelevant anyway

The light that lays in fingers
Across the shade
Is kind of like the things I did
Proportionate to plans I made --
So much light unlaid

* The fires will burn soft and slow
All the cinders spent to embers
There's a letter meant to be returned to sender
But I hope I won't remember

If images in dreams are colored-by-number
And your face is a portrait, and the oils are devout
I'll drown my sleep in paint thinner
And wash it out

There's writing on the wall
In a language such
That I don't like what I make out,
But I don't understand that much
And we're out of touch

The sound that fades into obscurity
So late at night
As all the bars go gentle, dead
Into dormant lamplight
Calls cold and bright

** The fire will burn fast and sharp
And eat the embers in the ashes
To hold the heat on high
And feed on all the hopes it dashes

[ref.]

{bridge}
I burn the notes
Before I bury them
Like bridges that
Love can't redeem
And they curl like
Arthritic hands
And fade to black
In well-known themes

*** The vapors rise and recede
On drafts of hard-earned sighs --
The flames flicker and blink
The warm sting of bloodshot eyes

[ref.]