the donkey’s tail whispered betrayals fiction of the physical smoke-blackened boiler puzzle dust glue up the works cold blob gong of zero cymbal sunshine windbreak bends breeze blocks the words he crossed out (were for her the sweetest of all) brittle façade there’s no denying it, we remember all our lives the way we were loved invisibility emblems steps receding (for Paul Klee) grey for you may he stand in pools of light (as red as any flame) lake arrowhead summer ‘94 a brawl of ancestors you mustn’t get older