CLOSED CIRCUIT

She was beautiful
like ballads tempting the lilies red
She had a pretty dress
with birds, ferns, trees singing
something precious in her breast

In a terrific city
— bright talk, stir-fry, metal towers —
you can eat life with a spoon
even meet salesmen of vacuum suckers

The problem with salesmen is...
...well, you know what it is

Afterwards she had to make new clothes
pinstriped, like a caged animal
The first time she tried them on
she shed blue tears — where was her pretty dress?
Wiping insects off a hard, fast windscreen

But something precious in her breast
was birds, ferns, trees singing
a closed circuit where nothing ever leaves
without her consent
there would be none, she said

In this terrific city
she bought a ring
and proposed to herself
She took a big breath
and was beautiful again
like ballads tempting the lilies red