Nothing but this:   a night clerk looking displaced
a fish   wide-eyed   poking against glass
both sharing the reception desk

silence is the medium   the man stares blind
iron keys on iron hooks   each holding a secret

swoosh:   the door   a half dozen footsteps
a few broken words   the jingle of #34

a staircase thunders   and here   just here
for the first time   the man   considers
alternatives:   undertaker   cheesemonger
perhaps even a sailor

his cigarette tip glows incandescent
his eyes:   dancing