From Campanology

at the Buffs in Belfast. after twenty-four years.

no ark for flood. no balm for ear. (liquid filling

into liquid). horses on the telly. lust of memory. and the larynx

of that place. at the table his hand on my leg. his toe my toe.



and afterwards the _____

of that place



twisted syntax

we fragment together



in sound

and sour stomach



a dweller in figment

hybrid of whole



words a make-shift cargo. sometimes a crater. a jewel in the soap.

consider the riggs: make-shift screen, make-shift heart, make-shift

as a spray of honesty and the excuse of it



two claws in the throat

little bitch of a rose

a hedge in the rain.



stamp and release. away in the head. no crib for a bed.



close the gate lovingly.

for my mother.

for white stones.

for uncounted pennies.



meaning begin again

between carpeted walls.



or push down the snib. mind the road.

the journey is long and ends quickly.



either way out of sequence

in a land never safe

from the (s)word.