Asylum,

like when I can’t sleep I say to myself
the the the the
the

the
the—
each article drenched to the bone in the

belief it attends something solid,
fond belief, always being
cut in on—the

the
the
the the the the the the

does the trick if I can stick with it
not get swept into narrative, that shock brigade
all tell, if by shock they mean hit

the the the the the the the the
papers say asylum is temporary
now, true, what’s not that’s able to

maintain its potency, you wake up
from a spell in that genre of safety, relative
safety, what saved you

making as if the story were widely shared
until you saw them as-if otherwise and then
what saved you was seeing their look, saying

resemblance too may be at any time revoked so
must be made the most
of,

seeing it then, seizing
the minute dismounting with the foot
trained as a dancer to keep you traveling because

they’d slept and, refreshed, moved the the the the
papers expired, it’s their turn now
to really live

Source: Poetry (March 2019)