A quiet akin¹ to ruins

    another contracted hillside， another split-level

    fretting² the gloaming with its naked beams.

    The workmen have all gone home.

    The blueprints³ are curled in their tubes.

    The tape measure coils in its shell.

    And out he comes， like a storybook constable⁴

    making the rounds. There， where the staircase

    stops short like a halting phrase，

    there， where a swallow circles and dips

    through the future picture window， he inspects

    the premises⁵， he invites himself in.

    There he is now： the calculating smacks⁶

    of a palm on the joints⁷ and rails，

    the faint clouds of whispered advice.

    For an hour he will own the place.

    His glasses will silver over as he sizes up

    the quadrant earmarked for the skylight.

    Back then， the houses went up in waves.

    He called on them all； he slipped through walls.

    Sometimes his son had to wait in the car.

    So I always know where I can place him

    when I want him at one with himself， at ease：

    there， in the mortgaged half-light；

    there， where pinches of vagrant⁸ sawdust

    can collect in his cuffs⁹ and every doorframe

    welcomes his sidelong blue shadow；

    anywhere his dimming form can drift at will

    from room to room while dinner's going cold-

    a perfect stranger， an auditioning¹⁰ ghost.