The Separation

.…on lucid walks
of highland fell fields
flat stones lie in sinkholes
                            floating on each other
            suspended       in glowing humus
crumbling lava
his lungs trap hot fear
consume it
sending it out to the fingers
         as the lifting fuzzy warmth
of sudden fire…

…Another time
                                       he returns with children
They climb from the backyards
past high tension towers
       to the cooled stone hills
The flat rocks have grown shrubs
playgrounds
the games of tag and ditch
over the slopes
grow to the tangle      of man and nature
                volcanic plugs changing to brick furnaces
 
                                              The children follow him
         turning into shrubs one by one
and he is left alone                                                    
in the neck of the furnace                       
climbing unconnected flights                             
concrete and lightless                                               
                                             in the throat of new construction

after a time he comes out at the top
by gray reflecting-ponds
and geometric falls
There are workmen            building his imagination     
who let him stay                                                    
even though it is not his house
(he has no money)
He causes intricate stonework                                                   
            patterns in aggregate
multilevel streams


He wonders though                                            
if it is his design                      
but soon finds
in a furnished living room
                                                   golden
among blueprints
file cabinets
Venetian blinds
                                                       a rich woman who scolds

“This is not your house                                                        
You have no money”                                               

And so he leaves

                                          the house of his creation