the saline city received your signal on the thirtieth
and the accidental audience held its breath
the new may dawned in silence
with one insomniac avoiding two backwards calls to sleep

I still see you there, a remnant on the southern horizon
where ali and abbey first saw you
standing over venus, her face a ruin
a club in your left hand, her rib in your right like a knife
she had chosen the wrong soft chest to strike