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.