we can stay here in this cardboard hotel and hope
the flood comes just in time to catch the fire
we can stay here and watch the river through the wall

we can turn our two into a snake
that nimbly cleans itself
we can see the fire and the water coming together

we can stay outside so many events
we can see a path out of the world

we can stay here in this cardboard hotel and hope
grandmothers and grander fathers
stay alive long enough to cry us back to sleep
when the cities melt

we can rent a room in a tidal wave
and keep it upright as it rushes into towns
where we once lived miserably
we can hear the music all become young again

put moons back into canyons
pull planets that are jagged
out of a rough place made smooth

we can stay in this hotel while the other hotels
slam their boards together and say
to the wind how sorry they are

we can drive our room through every other room
until all the passengers of things that stand still
let their fingerprints make love to one another