Colonial
Outside there are people waiting.
They have lights on their heads and they
are standing very still and tall amongst the trees.
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Inside there is nobody. Nobody living
next door, nobody sleeping beside me,
nobody checking the windows or touching the taps.
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Outside there are streetlamps waiting
to take me. They are so loud! Everybody
has to go deaf or die unless they listen.
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Inside there is nobody. Nobody living
for me. Nobody coming. I am the glow
in the glass and I’m scared of the fish.
-
Outside I could be settled, I could go
where everybody else has gone, where water
burns green under the bridges.
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Outside there are thousands of lights on the ceiling
there are chain-link fences, glass
pyramids over the train stops.
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Outside is a boat by the Charles
I could steal and paddle with my hands. There’s an island
you can’t reach in summer.
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Outside is a world where lips turn to me
when I ask them to say something happy, which kiss
instead of answering.
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Outside is a world, is a boat, is a light. I could go
where there are streetlamps waiting,
people standing tall and still. But inside
-
is a stain I am trying to clean, sharp and bright
on the floor, a dark stain I cannot understand, so I guess
-
inside there is somebody, too. Somebody living.
