i walked through the set of blade runner this morning

overhead cables and antennas
bore down on the dirty colours of the street
& i was caught quickly
in this mechanic web

a sudden subject
in an empire of signs.

i deciphered numbers such as:

seven &
eleven

in a foreign script

(only because i recognised their colours)

i flattered myself
that i could read a poetic language
accessible to all the senses

i reversed the alchemy of the word
and i learnt the meaning
of “fitting in”

by not fitting in

watching my body pulse &glow
like an amputated limb

and in the same second
dissolve
into the diesel laden air.