outside i can feel the world pulse with rhythm as cars float like cells down the vascular stretch and the verse breathes, expands and contracts in the infinite beauty against that terror held in hydrogen arms that seem to suffocate with love and fear indifferent. even as i drown in the mess of myself i…

at 9:01, a moment late, the first wednesday of each month the sirens set to wailing, raising up out of the cloistered morning a ritual mock fear, a test, a reminder to remain vigilent even in the calm breath of september, the awkward blind spot on the backside of the summer nuclear and just before…