intimacy

i walked among brokenness

even the flowers had fallen

and rancid lay in layers

oblique within ruin

the rest of the house

was torn from ever side

this was as random as humanity

the collected remnants lay still

like abandoned mannequins

sinless and devoid of life

i broke with footfall some

of this anarchic order

satisfied with the signs

that human beings had loved here

had lived and cried there

had released land to unkeptness

my hand touched a stone

my feet restless in this dearth

i watched the angles of the brick

against the shadow of the sun

and wondered about the order

the order of fallenness

somehow i paid homage

and knelt in photographic prayer

a woman came and spoke to me

believing i was the gardener

and soon i left thirsty