surrender to sea & smoke,
lobster cages drying on a dock,
clouds moving in counter-currents,
sun on every burst pore
crabs stumbling into sunlight
from under beachfront woodpiles
let your lips take on a dirty look
become an invader in the shops,
let neckties brush you lovingly,
ash sprinkle all panoply of dashboards,
earth a clothes-closet, until
you collapse in a mist on the pavement,
low tides of fire
carrying the pigeons and penguins away

there will be a kind of dignity in being
hammered by the years, oilslicks
dribbling down the long hills,
glazing leaves as they pass
into fluorescent centers, where men
trade uneasy glances with one another,
wondering who witnessed the murder, eyes
that danced only
in heavy shadow.