Sitting on a ledge,
observing the landscape
below, she admires
the proportional
beauty
of the sycamores,
spires, and greens,
but the air smells ornery,
and she is distracted
by a vibration.
She wants to wash
her hands but cannot.
All things might
change but do not.
Plagued by uneasy thoughts,
she wishes she’d
taken the drugs.
It’s as if her head were
partially blown off.
Who will find her?
The view across
the valley reveals
an electrical storm coming in,
squeezing the clouds,
tearing them asunder.
Long ago,
her parents nuzzled her,
murmuring, My love,
but now her eyes
are salt-choked,
and a fragrance
blows from the river,
as daylight topples over,
darkness coming
suddenly in the North.
