.....

Shade covers shade,
nightmare is wallpaper,
easy is the trick of living,
the no-trick of dying.
The light in the dark
no longer supple, no longer jagged,
simply and sadly filling space
with appearance of dignity,
quiet and resistant.
A balloon of saliva and mud
crashed against the moon
to give its radiant outline,
a form in retreat, never waving.
No limb for expression,
vines gone silent on the arch
the puzzleman paced in and out
tying and untying his hands
to a cooling stone.