IX The Speaker
In a grey park a man stands on a pedestal
reciting his most intimate
secrets. Nobody stops to listen,
having secrets of their own
they hold so dear
that to share them
would shatter the mist.
X Expectation
Women in headscarves lean out
of their windows
to look along the street
where a someone has stopped
at a corner, and another
someone stares straight ahead.
They want to know what draws
anyone outside on a day so cold
where they can be seen
by strangers like themselves.
XI One Minute to Midnight
The waiting room is warm
and through the dirty glass it is impossible
to see exactly who
is gathered in the smoke
that blurs identities
close to midnight
when the minute hand refuses to move
and the voice in the loudspeaker
announces a delay
until spring thaw. By then
nobody will remember what was said
except the man with the notebook
who is the first to arrive every night
and the last to go home.
XII An Appointment
Two men meet on a whisper
and part ways
each with a silence tucked
into the deepest pocket of his coat.
