VENUS BIG & LOW:

Sat on the edge of the bed with a throat that doesn’t want to sing,
talking to it softly, rocking, reminding it of our deal. There’s a
clear sky over Essex, beautiful, exciting, thin & white at the
horizon, ultramarine high above us where all the stars have been
cleared away like empties after the party. Just a couple left behind
to watch us with dumb rabbit eyes. Not even the lights of passenger
planes glide to earth transporting company & kindness. Venus waits
behind, stoops low to comfort us.
Somewhere out there, a young deer lies motionless in a ditch,
somewhere a car with a new dent clears it’s throat & migrates
to the station. It’s cold & damp, the sounds of silence with no
collar to turn up, just a t-shirt & a clock ticking on the bedside
table. Shuffle around the bedroom in the dark with only memory & the
light of an unborn day to navigate by. I don’t want to flick the
switch this morning. Want to hold on to the sanctuary of sleep for
as long as possible.

(K)