who rake the floor with want

clawing wood with blunt nails

asking for rest in bold italicised

underlined, cursing subsequent void
vomiting false diagnoses

in each day, a new house of panic

a prayer to god in a language

they don’t understand, precisely memorised
sharp, fanatical clinging to life

when it seems hellbent on chasm

on swallowing nerves

on fireballs for the innocent
where will you sleep next

sweet children, you whose emergencies

go unregistered, blanked out and shoved away

into every small cabinet of your chest
/ there will be a flat surface to lie on /

your respite dream, simple, recited

/ these flames can’t last forever /

you say to your mind, the last remaining