light came, we saw the green ness of it all.                          we live in the country.

yet when
she said my friend looked pretty
&
that I smelled nice
I sagged a little.

later that day
i found a message
request
from a soldier in the usa
holding a puppy & a rose
calling me a beauty

tell us things, take us without consent. there are no records

cover the place with whiteness.
pink is pretty, white is clean.

they do not want to see it
today, a reminder of fragility.

young man shouting at the elders

the high street

that they are waving those flags yet not saying anything

shouted and shouted like anything

while some of us got bored

left and bought a second hand marvel tee shirt in black

others stayed behind and filmed

save the children #

bob

.he had leaned toward me and commented
that i was getting old
and while that is correct i assumed from his
remark that he must be younger

time goes on and i am told that we are much
the same

carefully we drew her out
all tidy with reason, wearing
us down