Star differs from star in glory.

We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.

Laughter V

Laughter is never insignificant.

Laughter IV

Laughter is commitment.

Laughter III

Laughter is attack.

Laughter II

Laughter is disguise.

Laughter I

Laughter is vulnerability.

House of Neglect

I am the voice of the lied to,
with the children playing in the pantry,
under the flag of rich provision.
Who is moving on the bedchamber stairs?
Who is there?

“There are boundaries to be maintained.”
I believed you. I believed you.
Adder in a silk sleeve, disaster and appeasement
in hand, hiding swollen glands under your neckband,
you spoke with forked speech, and
I believed.

Silk sovereign, polished black
by my boy’s fingers, waxed,
monocled, and, what I never knew,
maniacal.
What a new game,
what a shock, what a shame.

What mother can run to hold back the master,
the maid, the disaster, the oncoming cave-in?
Foot by foot the butler made a butcher,
the bastard shame on every one of us below,
inch by inch the subtle touches clustered
on the open sore of our innocent obedience.

You, “Master,” with your wide waistcoat,
know the songs you’ve written
but how quickly have you forgotten:
“A house neglected against itself will falter.”