A tom waites refrain

brought the apartment 


A recessed entrance, 4 inches, for shoe
removal
                                     
A custom he suspected, with the floor
linoleum curled up at the edges


That found the detailed plastic chandelier 
still hanging in the kitchen


And the narrow balcony of windows, 8
feet from the neighbor’s narrow balcony
of windows


Where angry black cockroaches
grouped in formation in heavy rains


And bedroom furniture stood 2 feet high
- taken in july humidity by pink
see-through ants


That moved in 1 body under the sheets
across his legs, streaming into
a sugar jar on the ebony table


During 2 months to arrange hot water
for the shower


That saw an oil hose crawl over
the terrace and slink past
the linoleum to the small balcony
furnace


Which all became normal
- became okay


It was sitting nights at the kitchen
table, after a week of teaching


In the speckled light
on the brown empty bottles

                                         
Old songs lingering
from the bedroom radio


That wasn’t part of the custom
– that took time to be okay