#5

First fold
coloured side outward
along the centre line
of the child who sleeps too deep,
her hair
falling across the pillow
black threads slipping
glossy dripping
leaving her head bare

Second fold
same as the first in the other direction and
thin thin
bodies
all bones, gold stars
and gas
where there can never be enough burying

Third fold diagonally
the smell of napalm in the morning
television broadcasts
black and white and bloody
no one knows how the colour got in there
but it is all red

Fourth fold repeat as the third in the other direction
women in cloth
nothing left of them
head to foot
just eyes, dark
calling you, calling you

Fifth fold
bring in the side corners from the white side
o yoko

Sixth fold
one corner of the square
so that the edge is lined up with the centre line
as the Berlin Wall falls
and find
the snake has shucked its skin
leaving the same old wounds

Seventh fold
repeat with other flap
then flip to the other side
and note that it must look the same
neat
square
leaving no bloodstains
or smeared tears
despite the state of your hands

Time to crease hard
pressure needs to come to bear
to save much of everything
mostly children

Instead we choose to fold the same way in the
opposite direction

Yes, we could open our hearts and lay them flat
go for a kite shape that might fly
connect, work it out
fold our faces away from the floor

but turning to the other side
is expedient
easy and affordable

and as the making of our lives
becomes more complicated
and we lose interest and it all
gets too hard
the Towers fall

and we long for paper cranes

la g

 
The Letter (Detail) by Mary Cassatt, 1890-1891

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