The warning signs sign,
The air is potent and ominous,
Like the gap
Between the explosion you see
And the one you hear.

     The wrong is all light,
     No, the light is all long,
     No, the wrong is all right,
     No, The light is all wrong—Yes
     That’s it, the light is all wrong—No
     I know what that means.

That means I have to get away from this window,
Away from this bouncing, pounding ball, away from voices, from traffic,
Away from—Away,
Away from my inside,
That’s swelling up space already,
Afraid.

I go do the dark like a death wish,
Expanses of emptiness for me to float in.
I’d swim them but I haven’t the care now
To keep from drowning,
     In Silence,
     In Nothingness—
     In Bed.

I awake surrounded by things—there’s one I need,
But like Alice in the “wood where things have no names,”
The word escapes me.
I reach out, grab, squeeze—Real
I hold on and
Wait.