i look out the window and watch
the curtain of black fall over the city
pinpricks of pulsating light dotting the
landscape, a sheet of iron
a careful constraint of normalcy, a return
to sub-zero. every modicum
of decency, a smile wiped
across the visage of an attendant,
the indigo sky punctuated by an orange cloud
the colour of a bloody mary morning. red-
eye flights are the worst, tossing and turning
in my seat, trying to find the sweet spot
but only managing an uncertain victory
as the light emerges from beneath
the hooded sky, fuel poured all over it
for the start of a brand-new day.