I have an awful feeling we’re not going to get our fees on this job.

—Get Carter

Smears of charcoal in the sketch
of dawn suggested darkness
to come, the sky Noah saw

as he penned the lion with the lamb.
Civility is not Biblical; politesse,
perhaps. We know creatures

by their wary glances.
Naming them is another
matter, anonymity itching

at privacy. We pay never
to be recognized, to watch
the skies turn mercury

at the leading edge and not be afraid.