The man in the next bed has
a habit of silver; he darkens
when he’s not under hand.
He blames the road atlas
for bringing him here, for
counting the miles in gold.
The man in the next bed is
cast out of bronze. The man
next to him out of wax. Hold
him too long, he’ll furrow
and tantrum all night like
a candle. The man next to him
talks to his pillow. He blames it
for his dreams; his falling
& his crawling dreams. Why
did you show me tigers? Why
were my legs full of mud ?
The man next to him has
an answer, he listens to the roof
for angels. It’s raining
bishops & bastards, he yells
& hides his medicine cup
in the sheets. The orderlies
know better than to take it;
he’d only steal another
from the man in the next bed.
That man is the president
of Monaco, it says so
on his pectoral tattoo: I am
the president of Monaco.
In case of emergency, call
a jeweler. In the bed next to him
there’s a man who breaks
his fingers as a calling. God
tells him which to snap
or save. He leaves himself
one to point with, to accuse
the man in the next bed; the man
who built the hospital, who
doesn’t remember building it,
whose heart plays the machine
beside him, whose eyes stay
open, vacant as the next bed
& the next bed over.