I thought, above my head, there was a blimp

and its opened body

trailed chains covered in tacks

and hoses, some of which inhaled

and some of which blew air.

And I thought the blimp was fate

and the shadow it cast

made the rest of the world burn

so I would stay in the shadow.

And I thought the world was growing

craggy, everywhere glittering

with dry chalk, and all the animals

were drying into chalk

but the shadow went down,

down, and I was in a wheelchair

riding it down and my body was swelling,

my stomach and limbs

swelling, and I was asked to describe

some letters chalked on the wall

but making sense of them

was difficult, like my mother, so I loved them,

and many years later, in the spreading

serenity, there was no place for this,

so my last friend died

and humankind

focused all of its energies

on the building of a great tower.