trout

Or not

in memory of David Vogel 1891–?1944

Your eyes
light my way, David
Vogel: don’t be

afraid if I
slip my skin
off: it was

too dark for you.
Let’s strip
one another’s arteries;

each kiss will be
a ligature. Let’s
forget it. Hide

inside my childhood
city: I don’t know
its name, only yours. Jump

for me in the puddle
before the crematorium:
I’m coming, ready

9.5.1991, Cathedral Square, Christchurch