That Setting
I struggle with that setting
of tenderness – a therapist
said it wasn’t unexpected –
a glitch [resets] – We see a
stranger in mirrors & bloat
in loneliness – I’ll find ease
via Season 1 of love doing
it for aligned protagonists –
learn [again] in screenings
& re-framings by resellers –
[influencers won’t survive
climate change – blessings
for those left behind] – She
guided my words from oily
thought-leaks [& lip-slicks]
& then offered me tissues –
not a device known in my
twenty-odd years of a life
of dry eye [I have wiped a
tear before – but only at a
sentimental film – once or
twice] – Her usual terms –
fifty quid by BACs return –
a life so cheaply analysed
in a room in Newick’s hall
[behind St Mary’s] – Same
time next week? – too easy