go ahead, flash your badges
good, the heart is closed now
as a door against the night, the bolt
dragged along the ravine of my safe-
keeping. now can I unbutton,
unzip. now can I peal the bell
of my hour. now can I be more
than a mouth which to say yes
with. no one is coming. the door
is shut to the world, to you. closed
now even to me, who cannot rest,
who paces, checks the peephole.
closed tightly now against my ear
that will not listen as I say, no
one is coming. sleep. closed
for now, which may, it turns
out, be a very long time.
