How many words can you speak
into a phone? A pair of goats,
bleating from thin cords
that tether them to the base
of a guava tree. Where they traced
circles in the dust, they shat small
hard pellets. Who owns this land?
Is there a deed, a title, a lien
holder? The plumbing is old and rusty.
Water from the tank leaks in rivulets
before it can climb into the house.
So many questions and too many holes
in the walls. Who stole the light
bulbs out of their sockets, dis-
connected the refrigerator?
The mailman bangs on the gate
with a rock. No one hears
or no one answers.