Fielded by mitts of thieves
in a golden tallboy:
tossed by the rain
heavy into bowing trees, a painter
crusty fingertips clutching dugout steps
listening to a heated shower;
the stripes of a visionary
experience in the emergency light;
stem on fire for a rose canvas
bleeding vacant air.

Stillness in the belly of the noon
like a knife in water.
She swan hands,
tugging apron canvas
stretched across a dim wall
back-plated in fake flower wires
snagging the undergrowth of mildew rugs
ripping and breathing.