i was in chiayi
on the far east of town
i woke up with the sun at my back, early,
weekday, hours before then train, the taxi.
I was watching a man on his roof blowing a whistle
until he was engulfed with pigeons.
The haze obscurred the landscape, softened the hardships and bile
a picture I had in my head when I moved here
betel nut trees and the neon sign of the motel spa
everything in my life led up to this sunrise
and I knew I had to lose it all
I was losing her
and we worked the same shift
she would be in the same train as I
and from the train she would hail the very taxi
that pulled up before my own
I could see the back of her head in traffic
I could see her driver taking the same short cuts as mine
I asked to be let out early at the intersection before the final light
walking to work
I just wanted to take the back entrance
work my way up the stairs to the fifth floor
and stay there until the day passed
it was november and I knew I had at least another year of this