Brittle stars by Steve Hitchens


1

Orangewhite, pinkwhite,
bluewhite lights linger like
birds on the retina flocking in patterns –
form letters: form words:


2

At night the petrol plant
morphs from solid to gas –
a hazy halo always spiralling outward.


3

Green light gleams on the tracks.
Wheels squeal into platform.
All is yellow inside.


4

Yellow sky through a crosshatch of charred rafters.
Her red hair smelt of bonfire in the cold.


5

The liquid twittering of tits and finches
zapping and pulsing in birches and pines.


6

Two spiders paw their webs
between striplight and CCTV camera,
reflected in a stream of piss.


7

Dangling from lamppost,
like a thumb
or
jellybean,
a liquid bulb of amber
larval in its plastic casing.


8

Neon you are brighter than pigment,
filament deeper than my retina.