Titanium is designed to withstand

all kinds of weather – fire-storm, alpine chill,

space shuttle’s lonely encapsulation.
Double glazed windows mute the shouts

of revellers disgorged from corner pubs,

door and window grilles protect

from pecuniary visitors. 
             Zoloft keeps your sanity secure

	     Lipitor strengthens artery walls

             ocean’s tympani soothes

             night’s unfailing malaise.

             Wine sedates;             fears

             of intimacy are cured

             by distance and solitude.
Furious seas keep outsiders at bay

graves withhold the names of their dead

razor-wire ensures that children cannot escape.