I haunt him

He shambles over rocks

Lurching in water that’s not fit for frogs

The bed is pushed between his toes

Up and out between the nails

The stones rip his taut skin

Scraping open wounds

He doesn’t have the pain left to feel

He was numb before the water took him

A sea shell destined for the river bed

I scream and scratch

Clawing at who I was

Who I could have been

But he can’t feel his little ghost anymore

He’s lost to me and now the water fills his

And I no longer have the breath to cry.