Phosphorescence
-Ralph Angel
Only when I looked away did I wear
a woolen cap and winter coat to confuse myself
and give in to the rot and the decay
of months and days of rain and mud seeping
through the windows,
and didn't I dream as always
the most northern
of the islands and of their
phosphorescence,
and wasn't it the one cold day
I could not remember that threw me
from behind the bar repeated sideways glances
and though the news was sad
I just had to laugh, having
read the book.
....