big town blues (ii)
veer horizon

colouring the converse air
a massive sewn masterpiece
a tapestry of night
you can’t take your thoughts away

it looks like the moon setting
but it’s the sun
through dark form
released and rising
the city burns

the foreground’s
a house in the park
it’s fine
one window’s lit by sodium
a rectangle of yellow
that’s all

the dark detail between
you perceive trees
a wild old wood
with movement at the edge of the eye

you know there’s a tension
the disaster is spreading
the wood is awaiting the flame

but are you reading this
into the picture’s black
is it not there

it’s the frame
an old master wood reused
formally decorated
and burning
the corners are burning

burning from the fire in the city
burning from the memories
yours
you’re the one burning the cloth
you’re the one burning the wood

look away
don’t let your history escape
it burns

but you want that
don’t you