in the empty house
where no one believes in
empty houses
truth is not an object
with any value
a man says [i]i love you[/i]
to his wife
or he doesn’t
and either way she has
already left him
a child is found murdered
in the bathroom and
then another
and then three more
the words
[i]there is something wrong here[/i]
are left unspoken
the refrigerator hums
and the clocks run backwards
and the kitten is two months old
but will have to be
given away
and why should it live
in the face of these
five drowned children?
the answer depends on
who you ask
and it’s too fucking hot today
for these abstractions
say the word five times
and get it over with
dead dead
dead dead dead
go to the kitchen to find
a cold beer
call your wife’s name and wait
the rest of your life
for an answer
