he floated somewhere between chandelier and
ceiling, wondered at nothing
travelled from one face to another;
a band of conspirators and himself and
a vast flash of broken gleams-
lovers, lovers in the
sense peculiar

like a prisoner in the centre of an armed camp
captors from the
deathly implication
of silence over rash words

---

he met startled eyes
a pinched smile
conscious
engaged
serenely enthroned