Ready. Set. Start Again.

Let me tell you about 14 stories

The first is the setting of the clock

Twisting of arms and knobs,

Or the digital stuff.

You know the kind — sticks and bones.

Our second story is a dozen strong

Eggs and years and zeroes

It’s for promises,

But isn’t it funny?

We’re usually asleep.

Third is first,

Because that’s how the game is played

Put your trust in diamonds and lasers

They see for you, they stare down the ceiling.

Now press. Now start.

Fourth is for the walls.

You shouldn’t really be around

Numbness and vitamins

You know what they say about a watched kettle

It stares back.

Five stories high, and someone somewhere

Sings of golden rings

Collectors and flies,

Both carrying things made of moonlight,

Things that buzz and be still

The sixth tale is important,

Because nobody is paying attention

His income is getting pretty sparse

But the noise keeps him going

As he stands with dark doors and closed lights.

From the seventh telling comes

Movement. Angels and shampoo.

It’s all in the wiring, getting people up

I mean. Thread copper the right way.

And you can change the texture of the sun.

Nobody feels out the eighth,

It’s all legends and breakfast.

Follow the vegetables, eat your rules,

Remember what you got up for

And the world is your oyster

By the ninth story people are

Remembering that oysters bring disease

But easy on the coffee,

Too much bitter, and worry about the black

The secret is in the adding of things

Ten tales and tall towers of tools

Keep your worries in a file,

Not found.

Tense flavours to begin with, but that’s okay:

We’re taught by taut ropes

When our narratives number eleven,

Woodwork and wine are busy

Behind the scenes, sniffing out the

Shadows of cats and creatures

With the eye, aye, I

Twelve stories land us in a circle

The first of the last firsts

Eating air and breathing candy,

This is when we talk about the labours

Of our fruits.

13. The eleventh hour is long

And different from the others

Numbers keep getting faster,

But no matter how many degrees in

A circle, it’s still one turn.

So let me tell you about 14 stories

Witching hours and books piled

Under the TV.

The last of them is for lunch.

For meetings and stones and names.