That’s what you get when you fall asleep
……on cold waves of no paradise
…………………………..but trees
………You drift across Pacific
………This time landing in Japan

where they’re so deep
All the books say
Gutters so deep above ground
They have to be flushed
……and it sounds like waterfalls

Will you fall
Twist your ankle
………then body over into gutter?
Will you fall for wisdom
………of narrowed suburban streets
………………….sharing roof designs with temples Will you
………………….stretch back on ocean & float to new report?

Previously published in Antimuse.

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Elizabeth Kate Switaj is Assistant Managing Editor of Irish Pages and a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University Belfast. Her first collection, Magdalene & the Mermaids, is published by Paper Kite Press.

Object(s) to bring back to life: “The full manuscript of Stephen Hero, along with any and all records of James Joyce’s work as a teacher of the English language (from students’ notes to official documents) that have been lost over the years.”