gauze

twinkle twinkle

you look up
and the heat
hits you
the stars
throb
like sores
in the sky
and you breathe it in
the influenza
in the air

pitter patter

the pavement
gives way
to the pearls
and pebbles
at your feet
you sink
into time
a dinosaur
drowning
in laggerstätte
turning pale
as you
turn paleo

ribbit rabbit

yellow eyes
blink
under dark skies
the city lights
watch and
salivate
in hunger
without arms
to reach out
the buildings
lean in
around you
creaking like
concrete timber
and medusa's
men

and smitten smatter

you stand there
in a pool
of paralysis
muscles quivering
like arrows
in wait
desire dripping
off your skin
but
you can't stand it
the white of noise
the taste of your mouth
the sound of the universe
you can't stand it
cos you hear it coming
cos you know it's coming
cos you know when it comes
the beating of your heart
will be as harmless
as a hurricane



* Photo of smallpox infecting a membrane of a developing chick.