Smudged Ink

The story begins 

with a cold draft
interwoven, in the 

soft whispers of a hand
that stutters out its 

first words.

As the blue fingers 

tighten their grip,
utterances solidify.

They harden and sharpen
as the prose is chiseled
to an effigy of thought.

Words rise from the depths
where glistening thought bubbles 

fallen between cracks ambled, aloof

until the pinpricks of reality

burst their taught surfaces.

They form sullen puddles

deepened by missed cuddles

and endless struggles

but smudged ink is not weakness,

it is to be treasured.

© Utsa Seth, 2020