Kobus Moolman

 

Without  

and a tree without light
and a sky with no bones
and a wind that rises and falls

and a book without eyes
and a chair with no legs
and a window that opens and shuts

and a hand without feeling
and a foot with no nerves
and a mouth that swallows and spits.

15 things he carried in a small tin tied up with a rubber band in his top pocket

1. a small piece of fridge magnet
2. a dried-out helicopter seed
3. the stub of a pencil seven centimetres short
4. the rubber ring of a condom
5. a pink paper clip
6. the sound of his father looking for breath
7. a khaki button with four holes
8. not enough time
9. a white button with two holes
10. a very small safety pin
11. for keeping his eyes in place
12. one red wall plug for a two-inch drill
13. two old keys
14. one for a back door to a house he had never lived in
15. the other for a gate that could not lock

 

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