Someone Had Tied A Piece Of String (Orleans LXI '91)

Someone had tied a piece of string
around each of the fingers on his left hand

In the beginning, the knot was loose and the
bows were beautiful and they blew in the wind
They were comfortable

Soon after, the itching started and a bit of
flesh on the middle finger became inflamed
But it was barely noticeable

Summer came and his skin began (naturally)
to expand a bit with the warmth and

very quickly
each finger was swollen beyond belief
The purple flesh almost completely enclosed around the string
The tips of his fingers were ashen while around the rest
of his hand throbbed

Someone else came along
and slowly, seductively, and with great care,
unlaced each finger
allowing the blood to go
to flow
to continue the things he'd started