Night Clerk at the Hotel of Both Worlds

Balm

46 Balm Sometimes, nothing can be done. In Spanish, No hay mas remedio. I dreamed of going to meet a man At L’Hotel Bonne Femme. The walk there Intersected a windy lake. When either party Might arrive wasn’t clear. As a child, I mixed. I couldn’t have too many Friends. What’s more than the sum Of weird feelings? Run afoul of some Reflex, membrane. The upper back’s Excitable nerves. Events, inconvenience— Killed by a sack of wind, a wind Sock, or by being tossed Into a bag of vipers. Diagnosis Mixed. Bones too big for X-rays. The bones? Bigness aches them. 47 Clean 3 a.m.: Buffets dismantled, Screens dark, cars choked—a strange, irrelevant Relief. Cold covers the raised beds. Out of reach: Tom Mix, jaunty quizzical cowboy. Aluminum Glass holding water deeper Than could be, alluring. And then Cold covers the raised beds With bridal veils. ...