The signal fell from the
pot, with a knocked drop
like Wellingtons in rock pools.
There was no sound: the
fuschia-black tint of its
skin in this half-light
hid the blue, purple
spread of the blood. The under-
geared lungs chuckled into
motion, breathing a rose glow
into the slow cells. They
took him away, fired vitamin
K into a pipit-small heel,
and returned him to the tired
icy room. He slept like a baby.
John Gimblett