Nathan Thompson

variations


if the sky is almost blue because it is raining
does the art of difficulty continue to clarify
you are sailing across it
                                               ‘who are taller
than asking questions’ but stoop grammatically
which is metaphorical since in the world
your height could not be described as dramatic
but there are echoes
                                           in the sweet shell
that prints a kiss
on the envelope
of a letter you will write
tomorrow      unaware of the contents until you open it


* * *


the black cat said as she smelled the air
how should she place a button on the table
in character      next to
      caught like this      response to solitude as
‘something in the teeth’
                                                  a gas fire
heavy and nervously serious      who is picking up this look
to read
                        I will avoid
the humorous endorsement      it is not my eye

if she were to play with all the other things on the table
what would it make more than
‘ingots are best wrapped in paper’      safe
from prying psychics      am I to be a ghost
or has she not seen me yet


* * *


who opens the piano seat
and the walls of Jericho tumble

to my ears it was always wolves
I will try not to bore further but I liked the effect
of the right pedal more than the left
is this relevant


* * *


I am      now      your hands are      too far
for agreement      if this were autobiography
it would be shy people talking over one another
what should you

‘this is the wrong way to say anything’
anyone still listening      the wind in the trees