dusk by another story

Since this morning So many stories

have been told,

without words, without fire

By helpless eyelids nostrils cheekbones

By Silent skyscrapers, tired sea-waves

Hungry children, trafficked girls

Wry smiles, weeping hearts

By Unripe figs and uneatable street foods;

At evening, so many of these

Stories will sink into the bastard night

And will turn to black ashes

And the paint the sky black,

Yet without a single flame burnt

No smoke will rise no fire will be known

But so many stories will burn still

So many nostrils cheekbones will burn

So many skyscrapers and sea-waves

Will burn, without a single flame seen

But with another unheard story,

As they did yesterday

And the life before

As they will tomorrow

And the life after

Forever

Without smoke, without fire.

Ottawa 4:15 pm