how do you fend off               the sea

it will be here               if not ever

                          but as your fever

or your shadow      when you stop

                breathing
     do doors open                as they did

does your hand feel                     the same

                          in the night
it’s not      necessarily      a question

          of listening quickly

                          or slowly
     there’s a fluorescent glow           taxis are helpless

ancient women discuss

          meanings          the lines across

                their cheeks

the junk is cast

           plants are broken
     shake hands with destruction

walk into the place           marked with

                         gold and dung
if you gamble with fortune        fences smirk

                  the mulch is full of earwigs
     a group of men          look at the broken road

as if it was a puzzle

          that will take days
     the night has its cloud face

buildings are illuminated

                           by tricksters
     the avenue fills          with splendid proposals

               lollies on sticks          avidity and cream
     there are three                 creaking noises

                       in the morning

and at least four instances where          the room was busted

          by night’s computer fire
     you start with

             a humble shell

men talk to you          they come and go

     this corridor

          becomes a question
     perhaps you miss your moment

              so, leave by the stairs
     the caretaker watches you       children swing outside

someone shines a torch

          on the code
     envelopes slip        speech crackles

            everyone has a theory

bark showers down from clouds
bricks get bitter