abandoning Dawn Wall

Air closes around me, glovelike
it separates, the rock, in practiced foot smears.
Sweat, now, bleeds oil onto body and hands,
beneath, the head locked tangent,
of easterly weather gatherings.

Your ghost waited below for me,
turning dusty circles behind a tree.
Unseen, above, bleakly held moments,
gripping, through memories cramped,
when I could not continue forward.

This fulfills and shatters, granitelike
my fantasies, the dirt, in the still closeness.
Mildew, later, infiltrates damp bath towels,
hanging, in white tiled uniformity,
under the last pitch seen at dawn.