Black Bile

Black Bile



hollowed out dead trees line the social service office
inside and out
shattered glass workers with moving individually sculpted parts
a primordial leechy slug the size of a garbage can meanders around the halls
looking for bits of food and residue
the aged marble sentinels guard the floor below always watching never breathing
papers filled with wordplay
the ink collects on the page slowly becoming a single entity
a small black eye outlined with white
probing, investigating