D.S.

The raised eyebrow,
the limp wrist,
the dangling cigarette,
the toss of the head,
the cloud of smoke
self-consciously exhaled
through the nostrils;
and his mind and moods
a repertoire of cinematic tricks –
sunlight falling through Venetian blinds
to form a gridded pattern
on the floor and bed;
a hotel room at night,
alternate between the darkness
and the glare of neon sign
flashing from the street below;
or the shadows cast
by languid tropic ceiling fan
rotating slowly
its hypnotic pattern
black on white,
and a sense of humid ennui,
threat, and encroaching jungle.