from Love Minus Love

By Wayne Holloway-Smith
Read by Andrew McMillan

one story goes a man on his lunch break was hit
    by a falling baby falling from a very high window
of a building the man was passing on his lunch break
the man saved the baby’s life accidentally getting landed on
    the man saved that exact baby’s life accidentally getting landed on
one exact year later      on his lunch break breaking
the slightly-more-grown-baby-falling-
from-the-same-window’s fall accidentally
the man’s name is      Joseph Figlock what is sad is
the realisation this baby
could literally mean anything
but doesn’t
it does not
what is not known is whether that baby
a toddler by now      has fallen a third time
whether he is falling still and at this moment crying out
where is Joseph Figlock I can’t see him why isn’t he here

Credits

Directed by Matthew Thompson.

Wayne Holloway-Smith, Love Minus Love (Bloodaxe Books, 2020). Reproduced with permission of Bloodaxe Books. www.bloodaxebooks.com