The universe is vast
and it's raining;
I can hear it raining

The body keeps itself on course according to plan;
I watch it –
and the radio tells
how Mayor La Guardia banned pinball machines;
how they were dragged out into the streets,
smashed with sledgehammers,
and dumped into the Hudson River

A small aircraft crashes near Nassau,
and all nine aboard are killed

It's raining, the universe keeps expanding

The radio switches to the business news

The morning medication climbs out of the pill organizer
like Navy SEALs leaving a landing craft

The Silver cat comes in from the night shift
with wet fur,
and falls asleep full length at the foot of the bed

The universe throbs inside my head

Average life expectancy soldiers on
through news bulletins and stray words