how when she went out
or was it a dream?
on the top floor of a disused block
talking to an accountant
who told her the offices and banks
were churches to new gods
but houses were nests
and the rest hadn't changed all that much.
You speak so freely, she said
are you enlightened or stupid?
Oh, he laughed
I don't choose the words myself
and he bent to tie her shoelace
which she'd stepped on
climbing up the stairs

Outside the rain and concrete
waited heavy as each other
and rows of houses faced her
as she walked out of the door