Birth dress

I

given in vain

the material of books

languid, effusive;

I despair the last two states

the voiceless past

II

I make trouble 

for my family dis-owns me

a warm that comforts the sick,

omits religion

believing death may not be painful

III

my symptoms are abstractions 

for relation, other:

a symbol at a breakfast table

sugared porridge and honey toast

IV

dried flowers fall

at the bureau

we are no longer the same language

quiet is a metaphor, the birth dress

V

you exist in the imagined dark

hearing sleepers dream;

a soft guard at the door amounts to a siege

VI

I breathe re-rooted trees

harbour news,

the limitations of paper

VII

this book will become strained, a weight