Heaven-sent sunset red Spin in the evening under the windowsill Hawthorn valley floor Rain beaded grass Soft breath, motionless and wet Empty jaws of the rivers maw A backwards memory Like Arabic writing Tears of diamonds Vanish into the gardens I remember once when I was young Something was wrong Under an old fence The unlit labyrinth of nonsense Unformed nouns and vowels Drip into the floor Like insects from the nest of my skull The light looked different in those days As if an idea could imagine for itself And in the afternoon We all took off our skin And set sail for Neptune Using our flesh for a sail The drizzle of wheels in the heat Summer is the cruelest city of deceit That pains that you claim will reclaim you That gains that you gain will regain you I'm making ghosts out of clay To scare my past away