triptych

first,
rage -
a quiet, invidious force -
a cold wind seeping into
the cracks
of the teeth,
a gathering knot
of electricity,
seething in the veins.

its partner is sadness,
trailing behind,
mournfully,
yet dutifully,
tightening the strings...

then,
the third,
unnamed,
with scissors -

& last,
gray-cowled regret,
oscillating between
what is now &
what once was,
somehow inveterately
shuddering
caught in a trap
whose jaws
open, close,
and open again
without words