1.

there's a proud kingfisher

in every departure

& an orphan

going through the motions—

low-slung moon

over skyscrapers

bathes

the hospital sheets

with concentric halos

2.

i was a stargazer lily

behind someone's ear

now i clean

public toilets at 5 a.m.

& draw birds on walls

with spray paint

the pain

crushed the toad flat:

tires on both front wheels

3.

winter—

did you expect baldness?

the garden

hydrangea is room G23

ants crawl around

the tarnished number

tending

the door where

yellow balloons lose air

4.

imagine

sub rosa as ecru linen

this is not the morning

i wanted

or the color

of dusk in the storm’s eye

this here

is the coolness

of a jane doe’s pinky finger

Arlene Ang (ITALY)  edits the Italian edition of Niederngasse. Her poems have appeared in Dublin Quarterly, Mudlark, The 2River View, and elsewhere. She is a three time Pushcart Prize nominee.