1252

THE ANSWER AND THE RESPONSE

Look, how quiet the street gets
When the sirens last for minutes

The staple in the top left corner
Holds three pages together

Seventeen little paragraphs
A number on each one

The clock's over the window
I watch for any face

The waves carry me up and down
To a few yards from the jetty

Breathing and the drumming
Of pencil points on thin skins

Fill the room by minus one
And what's my hurry anyway?

There's no tv in the hallway
And everybody here knows me