smoky glass army past
foreign danger feeling old
Cinderella leaving midnight
ugly sisters leaving cold

cautious stares foreign glares
city streets grey and brusque
Kippot headbands caps and scarves
a cover between God and us

blowing smoke incense rings
arm around my ribcage sings
blinded by the yellow light
metal burning spotlit sight

blank skin street art
naked David in the park
headache fumes empty rooms
Mercedes drives in
concrete tombs

grunge to grey black to paisley
dates sweet leaves unfurl
cigarette smoke rotten strawberries
sweet like Ashkenazi curls

bleached blonde in the crowd
full of no one dancing loud
square letters, limbs fettered
ancient words newly learnt

you kissed a girl in a gay bar
pink scarf smashed glass
on the floor nothing more
glittering pharaoh first borns
you missed that girl in a gay bar
in your dreams no one sees
stroking thumbs darkness comes
legs entwined holy wine

alley ways exit days
doors locked fingers shocked
pillows squashed
keys lost
dreams mocked
cars stop