we hurried through
the Local Ribbon
of Cold Clouds
in the Constellation Lynx

our courses weave
disturbing spirals
we fall and fall
pursuing the sun
…

change me
empire of night
…

I feel the soul
moving in my hand
waver like smoke

almost adrift
a ragged web
subject to vague airs

between it and me
what I knew
and what I thought
      I knew
…

a dark animal condenses out of the dark,
shape unlit in a field of fireflies

I call into the night
for my indifferent cat
bears listening just past
the edge of door light
…

what do I care if
you never read this

I only want to outlast
certain monsters

to intend whatever is to come
violence or nectar

to indulge my sincere wish to bite
I want my effort back
…

nothing stands still
out of flux some new arrival
I give it a name

vermilion dragged

in circles over ash

oil burner bright

stinging the unlit kitchen

like rage

crude spirals

red as a cartoon heart

The earth spins faster: the roof
flies off the house, the stove
is hurled into space followed
by the refrigerator. Holding
hands we fly up, a chain
of paper dolls bannering the wind.
A spotted horse runs circles
earthbound in iron shoes—
faster, faster, then he can fly