If, in the middle
of the night, words
come; ignore
 
let the sleeping children
need you
 
though waves 
of light approach
 
let the man with whom you …

Froth of fabric against
boning, structures
of clasp & waist & layers
of cake, tables set
in silver. Cheekbones.
Chair covers. Hush
of an audience standing
up: fabric, again. Clothed

“His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.”
—Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

i.

we are wind, 바람. our number, 38.
we are fire singeing
hanging trees. we peck …

The yard has been stripped, the hyacinths
along with the rose bushes, petals heavy of dew,
the basket of a child’s undershirt saddled with toys.
Perhaps for the best—Maa mi …

someone ate a bat, they say—that’s how it happened
photographs of empty rush hours     empty vegas empty beaches
 
fake news of swans and dolphins in venice canals