-when stranded at the borderline-

why shouldn't I lay in bed through the light of day?

why change the status quo's punctuation before sundown?

maybe the middle-ground can be breached before darkness

sets its own determinations upon the face on the world.

first interlude

after the cat died the mouse had a family again.

they hid behind the gas stove until I assured them

it was safe to come out.

soon afterward the poison took effect.

I scooped them up with the dustpan and shuttled

them as a family group into the woods.

that’s a ceremony.

the trashcan isn’t,

and although they have their mother’s eyes

the little ones resembled a joey of opossums

before the interstate would bequeath to them

the deaths they were properly destined for.

second interlude

It's true. I may have read too many poems,

and that's a situation which can’t be good for anyone.

but inconsistencies proposed by lack of sleep continue.

I could be dreaming. it’s only an hour to sundown.

                    the north-end of town