#60 The Threatened Assassin

No sense of inner
motion. It is
the eye that
activates, starting
with the mountain
outside the window
& spiralling counter-
clockwise round
the room. The assassin
seems unthreatened
by it all. The
naked woman lying
bloody-mouthed &
lifeless on the un-
clothed bed
is a past he is
indifferent to. No
different to
his appreciation of
the watchers at
the window, the net
& leg-armed
blunt force trauma
waiting by the door.
If time restarts they
may present a
possible future, but in
this tableauxed moment
only the music
captures him.

#59 Pleasure

Blood stains
the white
lace collar.

How else to
test the reality
of flesh

than to bite
through feathers
& frail bones

& let the
blood dry
on your tongue?

Other birds
watch. Wait
their turn.

Some things
are not taught
in school.

#58 The Empire of Lights

Noisy birds silence
the trees. Someone
is reading as they
sleep. Against the blue
the house has braced
for night. Entrance is
gained through a door
in the roof. The pond
is full of stars. A street-
lamp echoes. The sky
is empty. Only clouds.

#57 The False Mirror (1)

sky
in the
eye

#56 The Explanation (1)

Just as in
Edwardian
portraiture

it is the off-
spring who
is lying on

the ground.