night

night opens and shuts

like a warm generous mouth

i slip in 

and out again—

it closes

ive had a taste of the supple

the dark

the blankless, that is a street with building blocks 

and the whirring sounds of fury

the fury circumvents

and comes to a sudden standstill 

then there’s chaos

night has transformed

into an abyss where words get mistaken for signs

here, songs get translated to sirens 

we wade against time to the banks of memory

night was brief 

but real

and so is its reflection 

it has left me coiling back into my foetus self for now

inside it, i retch a little

i writhe

i spread my fists open and grab what light enters space between my fingers

i draw them around me and hold

the night has sucked and let go one more time

i’m floundering in the aftertaste 

of the softness 

its blank has been as generous as a womb every time 

for now, with my fists clenched—

i breathe