FIFTH Poem by Jan Lauwereyns

The dog could not deny what it had found it was
snuffling sniffing out in a few days the dog had more

to sniff than was good for it and for its master

falling to his knees beside the corpse
lying under floorboards flagstones wrapped in seaweed

filthy false unworthy traces of her

his love who'd vanished just like that
between the pencils puppets pans and pins

the things he'd hoarded useless pointless and important

crucial signs and symbols signposts objects
he once collected should have glued for her.