then talking through screens

talking through screens sitting in dim rooms waiting mostly waiting

fearful of the interlocutors the voices rasping the frowns inferred but

            not necessarily not often       

            seen

talking through something like a gauze or ashy smoke or an itchy woollen blanket

circling round bleeding prey a savage shape sniffing

                        and laughter how we laughed

at bleeding prey

circling round you talking through coming round to the topic we didn’t want to discuss

            but circumstances dictated talking through it

                                                the screens

at five o’clock it went dark and it hasn’t lightened since

…

James Knight is an experimental poet and digital artist. His books include Void Voices (Hesterglock Press), Self Portrait by Night (Sampson Low) and Chimera (Penteract Press). Website: thebirdking.com. Twitter: twitter.com/badbadpoet