You Are Defined
by John Sweet

    it is the weight
    of the afternoon that
    holds you down

    the sun after
    three days of rain
    white and blurred in a sky
    of not-quite blue

    and walking
    from here to there you
    suddenly have a shadow and
    a place for it among the
    scream of machinery and
    the laughter of
    children

    you are defined against
    these faded houses
    and dying trees

    you give the day a name
    thursday or saturday
    or even sunday and you
    pick a date from
    the calendar

    the 16th of july in the
    year of tortured dogs
    and now you are
    somewhere

    lost yes
    and with nowhere you
    really have to be and
    no one waiting for
    you there

    these are
    small comforts at
    best






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