ochre
raze
she
was
last
seen
in
public
on
the
third
of
the
month
.
she
hasn't
left
her
mother's
house
since
.
she
came
here
to
die
.
in
her
final
interview
, conducted
over
the
phone
,
her
speech
is
halting
but
clear
, coloured
by
an
accent
no
one
can
place
or
explain
.
it
was
never
there
before
. "
there's
a
stadium
of
men
now
,"
she
says
. "
this
...
this
tiny
thing
that
smells
like
ochre."
an
ai
image
generator
shows
a
woman
standing
in
the
middle
of
a
road
no
car
has
closed
its
eyes
to
kiss
.
night
.
the
scent
of
unsent
letters
and
baked
clay
.
smoke
curls
from
both
nostrils
and
rises
to
find
what
hasn't
yet
been
burned
.
dark
hair
wrapped
around
the
soft
sestina
of
a
hollow
skull
.
this
isn't
her
.
it
isn't
anyone
.
260831
what's it to you?
who
go
blather
from