:

With more than forty candles
on my cake there should be more light
than there is in this room; the cat keeps
bumping into things. There should

be more windows with less
nettles on the outside of them
peering in. I cut my thumb
when I was young

on a curved blade. ‘Don’t be shy’
my cleaning lady says
as she unzips my flies --
‘I’ve got four brothers’.