Quilt swallowing the sleeping cheek
beside you. Across the driveway, the blank
stare of the dead neighbor’s window.

Grackle settled on the lilac branch
outside the kitchen door. Tiny yolk of sun
frozen in his cast-iron eye.

Pilot light dark, blue ghost flame
holding its breath. Clock blurting out seconds
like castanets. Yesterday reruns.

Same icy sky, stars flickering out.
Hem of night dragged beneath ravaged trees.
Nothing escapes the appetite of forever.