Angel’s Lament

For Gail Bailey

I’m looking down into a valley of vapours
Where yet another city lies, concealed
and dense with lives I’ve seen
that have not seen me
for I am citizen of the unknown

All my life, I have wanted this:
to be inside the story
to have a street with a name and a corner shop
to have a window with curtains
and all the sharp noises of the night
in some city wedged in between mountains
in some city carpeted with ocean

To know that I’ve arrived
to be concealed from the terrible
longing of some stranger
who will come one day
and stand on top of the mountain, unseen
then vanish, leaving footprints in the air