The view is not beautiful
From this room
I’d prefer another
Without cars
And bikes
And spluttering things
Choking my thoughts
And fuzzing my head

But

There’s the phone box
I called you from
A million times
Without response
And the internet cafe
Where golden memories
Hammered down
On coffee-stained keys
And that’s the hostel
Where I stayed
Eating my days
And losing hope
And there’s the sleeping dog
Crashed out anywhere
As if yesterday and tomorrow
Didn’t belong to him
Or this world
And then the flag
Of this strange place
Billowing and throwing out shapes
Of what might
And might not have been

I’ll stay
For one more day