A Separate Peace

I am inland now

Far from the coast

The language of this city is brutal

Hard-edged

Engines and drills

Hammers and shrills

In the dead mans pose, I come to rest

My posture matches the towering office blocks and residential apartments

They arise in the near and mid-distance 

And land in a splash across the broad sweep of my windows

A light smog rises up from the streets below

Traffic fumes and incinerators

Above me, rain clouds bear down through a yellow strain of light

I am the fumes and the light

I breathe in and out

I return to the coast

I follow my breath like the ocean waves

I am the lion purring

I am water in the simmering pan

Out of the brazen chaos of this salt city orchestra

My air-drawn dagger

My silence

Cushions an old peace into my bones

gK