Prised Apart
I raise my arms
and let them
slump back
down. Maybe
they don’t belong
to me. Our
movements more
exhausted,
looser Did we
show rage.
Did we
try for once to
rest your hands
on your
hips, hold
yourself
like a good
china cup chipped
as soon as you
call yourself
good. No,
no
a version of
this is
available elsewhere
in a much more
palatable
form but
some else thing has
control of
a prickling starts
Shoulders
a numb loop
Hindsight – if
I’d told
the name or knelt,
squatted,
bit my knee
in another
rainforest’s sweet-
smelling time
to intervene
pull the branches
back,
If
I’d known what
kind of
army was
coming They
can do whatever
they like with
my hands are
like paws, a
mile away I
let
slump. Could
we stand
up, step
forward a
roofless palace
a heaven to
believe in
fresh air of a milder
autumn
ink
tapes
lying on the couch
like it’s fine just
there on
the couch like
a piece of mangled
tape that only
would
play I got
out of
the pool and
heard a pool-
coloured song