An Evening of Delicate Gestures

An evening of delicate gestures
fractured by a sudden change of music,
a change of station, different band.

An evening of delicacy abruptly
usurped at unseen hands.

No person threatening,
simply threat,
faceless, null and nameless
as in a dream
while still entangled
in the world within us
and without.

Fraternity of friends distorted
into a grotesque masquerade
fearful of the uninvited guest,
menaced by the broadcast
of an alien radio.

Sophistication shattered
by the presence
of a crude and primal host.

No guest untouched by paranoia’s
tap upon his shoulder
with no clue given
of what it hints or means.
in this world
or of another.

It would be sane and simple
to escape it, turn away
and hurry home and into sleep
but for the eerie realization
that this is where we live.