Dreams of queens in velvet. Awakened by military exercises right beneath my window. Can’t stop picking at the scab on my right ear. The darkroom door swinging ajar like a skirt above a subway grate—a whole week’s worth of pictures ruined. Curlews in flight above Whale’s Maw. Early stars half-obscured by the greenish clouds. Must reply to the Commissar’s letter. A schoolgirl’s hands visibly fidgeting inside her sable muff. Waves frozen mid-crest. Bitter medicine. Upstairs, a dog barking. Squidroot for dinner.