Light! Light! Light!
The stars tonight are like tinfoil fleas
On a black rat.
I’m here.
Not far from the train yards.
Not far from the river.
My eyes no less blue than they ever were.
Look in my mirror, Mother.
Tell me if my good
Heart isn’t bad luck.
Tonight, I’m no more resigned to light
Than some canary,
Its eyes pried open with pins.
How come more children
Don’t mistake the river for a schoolyard,
Dark as it is?
Nothing moving but the trains.
And the trees, so quiet.
Like towers.
Waiting for their snipers to arrive.
-Jay Hopler
