I’m very English sometimes,

apologising

to the stranger staggering by,

shoulder swung into mine,

sorry caught in the air

with the dust cloud he trails.

So I’ll repeat

in case repetition makes up

for distance,

for an inability to find fire

until much later on

when I am a city or more

away

and still thinking about bone

and muscle

and a sharp snap of ‘move

now!’

No please.