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Wow it’s so still Isn’t it eerie Oh yes So calm Everything’s still That’s right Look at the rowers – look at how fast the rowers are going Ominous – yes, like the calm before the storm If you like Look at the rowers! Two long boats and bodies – rowers – like rungs or something Like notches or rungs – or struts or bolts – something The sound of the machine drying the bathmat behind me in front of you, very low – a good machine Time to leave you to it pretty much Handwriting, here and there – little notes, as you go along, things not to forget They move me actually Along with the photo on your travel pass, they move me   I didn’t put on my hat even though it’s as cold as forever and the hat’s right there in my bag at the bottom My mascara came away in the night and for that hat to look any good requires a little recent eye adornment – I realise that And I didn’t say anything, not a word, about the creature beneath the water No mention of the monster The flowers are lovely instead, especially the roses Oh yes, you say They’re high enough that I don’t see Mary getting out of her car I don’t have to see her any more, walking by and going into her house – it’s nice actually   Would it be a scaly monster with a tremendous tail I wonder, or something wraithlike with straggly wings? Will it, in other words, be something dredged or something fallen? A decision doesn’t fix because the day is actually more nuanced than at first appeared – and anyway, I don’t know where exactly, but there is something shifting and suddenly the whole scene is quite altered And yet, for all the world, it appears perfectly composed As if hovering in fact The whole vista hovers   Some kind of trick, obviously I could remain like this all day I expect, and not get any closer to working it out   It wouldn’t be a big deal – the monster’s