slowly i moved through the house and closed all the windows clouds formed above us as black as the teeth at the back of your mouth i will drape the sheet over my head like a halloween ghost we will rise above the city like smoke we will rise above the city like smoke we scattered my grandfather s ashes in a plant pot of fuchsias earlier that day surrounded by my cousins and my brothers you wore a tulip and i wore a great big rose we will rise above the city like smoke we will rise above the city like smoke drunk now dancing out of time with the record you come flying faster than blood flows with the weight of the world on your shoulders you float we will rise above the city like smoke we will rise above the city like smoke one fist shaped like an oven one wrist like a chimney stack the heavens open contrary to rumours the heavens are black and we find ourselves responding like it s all a great big joke we will rise above the city like smoke we will rise above the city like smoke my dad s on the telephone and his voice is trembling he has a hard time letting go he has a hard time remembering i can understand him clearly though there s something in his throat