just here where there is nothing
a hand reaches up to touch
the key to all your pain
shiny growing cigarette tip
red in the dark, you touch it
like the ruby lip of love

back there in nothing
despair was like the dark
and then you slipped through
breaking ice and fell away

floating in the dark like that
with nothing but a pillow
for a hat, and a soft bed
to land on in case you were dreaming

this life goes into reverse
and when you stall there’s
nothing better for gravity
than a long involuntary fall

where the trees are lit
on Atlantic Avenue with some
fire tip of drowning sun
you wait for the light to change