Routine Alarm

A star whose words are nightly ritual
lists nouns foreign in my own tongue.

Places without postcards
where people live
exist, and things are happening.
Here are some names for you.

I'm the only one listening.
I can't mark the patterns
or find context for my first
question. I wonder if I'm really listening.

With more strange gifts
left admired, unused and forgotten,
the words become bland,
filtered as I want
and not as I need -

a solo experience,
intimate time spent with
the dynamic world I never
meet in real life.