Theft
is a winding but necessary route
to the pinnacles of equality.
To strip a flat bare is to fill it with light;
objects usher in the dark.
Few homes today are forgivable
as the rank odour of my pervades them
so burglary is purifying,
an amicable greeting by the robbers,
their way of letting you know you are useful
and therefore that they accept you.
You may be proud they sit at your desk
and riffle through your papers. It is true
they are looking for cash or trying to adopt
your identity but did anyone else ever show
such an active interest in your life?
And they admire your onyx ornaments,
wish they could get a worthy price for them.
The admiration of a thief is sincere
so you can feel safe, as long as you let yourself
be freely robbed. The moment you inform the police
and they begin their stumbling enquiries
is the moment you should move out.
If you instal a burglar alarm, even a token box
on the front elevation,
your burglars will feel insulted.
If on the other hand you purchase
a costly bunch of sparrow-hawk feathers
from the blind girl in the Strike St Market
and hang them over your door
nothing will disappear from your rooms.
Josh Ekroy’s collection Ways To Build A Roadblock is published by Nine Arches. He lives in London .