doubling i

you go below,

so far below,

the bottom line,

the bottom blue,

the haze will take you down

to the barrel of a subway,

and marsh festoon the platform,

the dismal, smoking platform,

and the tiled, rounded wall,

and the vines and the leaves

and the bugs among the wall,

and the station was called what in its time?

and did the tiles tell of you

and their patina to some culture

and a certain sort of man?

see, the tile man has a hat on his head,

and a tie in his neck,

and a suit of something timeless,

and the face without a mouth,

and so you see me among the smoke,

and my body bent into the tiny fire,

which was you,

which was doubled,

in the screen that stole your likeness,

an advertisement, a flash in the pan,

you’re a celebrity at last!

for these fifteen seconds,

did you have anything to say?

did you have any regrets?

or did you sniff the jug of milk

before you left for work, today?