a comedian on the radio said

their mouths were ovals of despair

 hurricane-namers on the BBC

said after the earthquake it was

          worse

 the world behind its thick skin

answered

 I take a pulse

  you know when you need a really good cry

   you strap yourself

to a rock

 Pyrrha knows what I mean

when I say they never call storms

 something sexy like Aslan or Sheba —

   I want to be washed in permanent blue

 Bernadette offers saturation

streets with weak tea

that smell

letting the body know danger

 in the hospital dede finds

the only Turkish speaking nurse says

if he can’t go home he will defenestrate

the vocabulary of anger multiplies at the rate of

  bacteria

dad speaks five languages translates blame

into every one