before the birth of disembodied words

i used to sit in train stations

and catch words in a net

ordinary words

people talking about Aunt Edna’s chicken soup

or how Jemal should not have done you like that

passion in public spaces

now I listen closely to the conversation of

friends

across cloudless skies

one complains about two red eyes

and the other quips:

red eyes usually come in pairs

I want to use exclamation marks

to tell this friendly stranger

the silly picture in my head,

a friendly monster rising surreptitiously just above

the horizon of an imaginary wall

his two red eyes

come in pairs.