he gathered the bone white shards
with great care in the near darkness
of the kitchen
the streetlights toxic amber light
burrowed into the silent house
curtailed by the narrow window
and lay unchanging on the pitted and greasy floor

his feet shuffle across that lighted square
he watches it intently as he passes over it

a few leaves of an intervening tree are
are silhouetted there as stark contrast
but he is numb to the contradiction
lighted floor tile with shadows of leaves
it makes him giggle inside like a giddy schoolgirl
the light is diseased and its so so nasty
ain't it delightful
saturated by shadows
his mind shuts off the unquiet thoughts
replacing it with something warm and fuzzy
like a warm blanket
a blanket party for the mind...
yes yes yes...beaten senseless

morning collapses the streetlights
mesmerizing light/shadow
for another day
he picks up the fine white china cup
that he drank coffee from all night
and smashes it on the floor with mock violence
where the streetlight had lain
the seed of his madness all night

the bone white shards
will lay as a dangerous reef until nightfall
when he will gather them to their grave
one more fine white china cup
one more day alone in the
shatterbox