Identity

What with having had a few days there and then a daytrip
and a week in a different place coming up
it's like I'm not really here

If I had volunteered to be something hunted
then I wouldn't have been still long enough for them to spot me
get my range, take a shot

When you're going somewhere you're a moving target, harder to hit
but, sorry, Jack, I'm not just passing through
this is my planet as much as it is anyone else's
and I can slow down, dig in, lie in wait
unmoved for days, if necessary
and at the right moment squeeze the trigger

On cold nights, I welcome your warmth
the space between atoms


~ ~ ~


I put my hand in because you invited me
I found cotton wool, silk, marble figurines
raw meat, yoghurt, hard grit, sharp cut metal
a cocked mousetrap (it broke my knuckles)
and two bare wires (zapped my arm –
sent me flying backwards)

On my knees, I looked again, under your bed
I read the cut-ups of your diary
(but could never recompile them)

I did manage to walk today
The aches were bad. My knees made me curse
On the brink of evaporation, faint, but you wouldn't know it

Yes, outside, I still wear you
with pride, honour, armour
but I don't know why
(I don't need to know why)


~ ~ ~