Central Locking

A poem by Daniel Carden Nemo

Photo by Bekky Bekks on Unsplash

You can play a music piece so differently
it becomes a different piece.

Playing it backward
there’s a sense of being followed.

Say:

compose me
a replacement.

Soft-touched
by a ghostdance >> transferring
to mezzotint >> transferring to aquatint

the squares on the floor
have many drawers.

The stream is blue.
The woods are green.

The dreamscape contains everything.

Watercress distorts
like spherical umbrellas.
Dragonflies swarm
fluttering mid-flight.

The sky above revolves,
you remain motionless.

What connection is there between things?


To the left you see the outline of a house.
The hand of a clock turned away
from the wall,

a few trees,
edging the forest
maybe, to the right.

The gray sky inbetween.

But why is there
a bellhop waiting on the stairs?

It reminds you you bear gifts.

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First published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal

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