Five Poems

The Awakening

better

he remembered the dreams he had had
as he lay there in fever and delirium
in the last days of Lent and Eastertide
during the latter days of Lent and Easter week
during the end of Lent and Holy Week
when he dreamt of a sickness on the streets of Hotan
when he dreamt of a sickness on the streets of Moscow
when he dreamt of a sickness on the streets of Lahore
and saw the fabric of life unravelling
when he saw the whole world desolated

only children moving through the dreamworld
brothers fleeing from burning buildings
the older brother passing down the younger brother
the younger brother jumping from the older brother’s arms
...