Lydia
stops me from
thumping Hem

even though
he'd bruised her
earlier

that morning
on her arm
let it go

she tells me
I've seen Hem
in the Square

sneaking back
like some fox
having been

after hens
we're both 9
Hem's older

but skinny
I watch him
beneath us

looking down
from the third
balcony

of the flats
where I live
her thin arm

loops through mine
to hold me
ain't worth it

she tells me
but she knows
I'll have him

at some time
hound him down
like the fox

that he is
one morning
while she sleeps

in her bed
and I'm up
looking out

from my high
balcony
like a hawk

for its prey
I'll get him
I tell her

smiling soft
on a day
in my way.

I've taken to the sound of waves
a sea that carries me away
And maybe I'll return one day
I'll come to you without delay
but something else is pushing me
Toward edges I could never see
Been moving so unsteadily
For what seems an eternity
My blood is cold, my lips are blue
I need the sun to make it through
And if I don't, be seeing you
I do not know what else to do
It's either here or there for us
It all depends on who I trust
I will not choose until I must
The enemy - to be unjust
And whether I admit it now
or far along the line somehow
The waters rise, they break me down
to let me fight or let me drown

She grabbed my wrist and put my fingers
in her mouth to better taste herself.