The territory of these shadows is unowned,
and the magic of the chimney balcony
is its own secluded world, free from
the speculation of sky and cloud and sky.
Still, for whatever reason, you reign,
a being of cloud and stone, together
in the vault of this roof, with nothing
but a crude, iron curtain of fur and silk,
smooth like the saber back of a duck.
Inside this little elevated showering loft,
we can see you stoic, immolated, white
as smudged soot around you. Free now. Finally.