Laughing as they could in their rooms of the groomless br Proud: br The way they looked up on their brooms sweeping up in the br Sky far away from how I felt: br Glistening from the school yard, making a marmalade sweep of br My tomb; br And I thought that it looked so pretty, and the lions could br Almost be heard yawning- br Like the alligators- like the pyramids: and Alma got up in the sleek br Sunshine and arose: br Her armpits glossy with sweat and primrose: and the coral br Snakes watched her from the windowsill as she dressed: br And the otters played- and then they regressed: br And the bicycles all looked sloppy beneath the slopes of br Turpentine: br And I got on one of the seats on the bus as it drove down the br Street and I bit my lip; br I bit my tongue- and then it returned us from br School to our home, br Like children pursuing ants on a baseball diamond: br All I could think of was to make her mine- as the clouds shed br Their illusions in the sky: br But waiting for us at home was only lonely cartoons: br As it happened- the muse, the afternoon goddess was nowhere br Around; br But the paper airplanes folded up upon themselves, and the aircondition br Cursed the stewardesses who were also nowhere around.