New day has a fabric rip The pyrethrum scent of last night’s neglected pans Basmati and burnt metal Slept with the sun inside Woke weakly flailing In your bite, a hard, machinic smile A ridge against my wrist like sunrise Broke a mouse’s neck A small, uncoiled scream Dragged up the hinge The bared teeth, gladiatorial in glory The tongue an ugly twist Imagining a thousand crucifixions Along the Appian way These brief lives another paltry annoyance Marking the dwindling distance Between failure and victory
