"The war light"
The war light
shines thief in the machine,
always ending
in a hanging.
Dock the cotton
in war night.
The zoo is dire:
it hurts
the light.
Was one Susan
the wharf?
Was the sister
nearby, silent?
The shriek startles
the boulders, sunning
the ferns
& summit.
When diesel stains ether,
the viral lease,
the verses we hear
are nevers. A hump of days
wound round the altar,
the inseam of a scarecrow.
Behave, weary,
chiseled & white.