The Ofi Press Magazine

By Caleb Klaces, UK/USA (Published in Issue 10)

Benevolent architecture

Daffodils painted below real daffodils

on the pavement. Making more ample

the underscene of light,

splashy and anti-violence.

We are everywhere these days.

In Tube stations bathed in classical music.

Sleeping people who go round and round the line

gathering discomfort. Around them, I hear

what I remember of songs from what peers

above the noise—ventilation tubes and wires

hanging out of patchy cladding

for real. Around me, them;

car insurance; inexpensive weekend breaks;

a space that is not

or invaded. We won't sit on one another. We won't

sing out loud unless we are the beggar.

        Kazimierz Podsadecki – City, Mill of Life, 1929

Caleb Klaces is from Birmingham, UK, and is now based in Austin, Texas. He writes on the arts and ecology, and is editor of the poetry website Likestarlings.