these nails of mine i do not know

belong to whose body & 

the inability to sleep 

in your backyard how the intel world buzzes 

on what i might suspect a quiet Monday morning

planes blast skyward 

a mesquite tree 

twelve disciples click & call to me 

dove and grackle   my angels   my choir

are xmas decorations   evenly spaced

“are you too hot for me?” i say as i slip my thighs under your hot 

bum   breathe   settle   my tum   your buttons   my buns   

blood rises   brain lights up   i pop on the fan with the remote 

night long’s happy dance 

the fan’s safe click like Nanny Enns’ clock 

on the mantle in her apartment on Spruce

i dream   Apache drums   monster trucks  

Vroom Vroom!   (the crowd goes mad)

& fair bear at the state fair   the ones we were gifted

yesterday   though my aim less than fair   duped no one

in the barn we pat 

wallabies   (wanna be)   home   long lashed camels & llamas

children’s eyes grow large when a zebu 

pokes its nose in to their sides   itching for feed

i pat the long faced pregnant looking sheep   whisper 

“don’t worry   it’s the last day of the fair   it’s almost over”

disabled folk rest on their walkers   a child gloats over his new 

stuffed animal   pats it   i ask his folks if i can take a photo 

his mother says “no”   

kids crunch on candy apples   candy floss

in kettle corn air   smell of funnel cakes

zucchini fingers   jalapeños wrapped in bacon lingers

D & me lick Dole Whip cones drink Chub cafe o lait in cans with lids

made by a man from Puebla   town of Talavera pottery 

i think on how this country has been built on the backs of Latino people

i hide enshadowed under my purple umbrella

dump water down the back of my top

run to the can   

my cell pops from my pocket   slides over concrete 

the photos i longed to share with you 

have lime stripes running through them

it’s three degrees with rivers atmospheric in my hometown Deep Cove

four houses plunge into the sea

i hear our neighbour Mike cart away our recycling

i thank the October sun & Mike

o to the generosity of strangers

ps “avoid that part of the backyard 

at night where the dogs poo poo”