One Night in Balthazar by Fanny Howe

<p>Production and Sound Design by Kevin Seaman</p><p>One Night in Balthazar</p><p>By Fanny Howe</p><p> </p><p>The hotel bar downstairs</p><p>was dirty and dark and almost empty</p><p>except for him whom I didn’t know</p><p> </p><p>I lost my balance</p><p>because evil is aroused by absence</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Outside on the island</p><p>a brick city had grown up and old</p><p> </p><p>A person could only nibble on its shadows</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where was my beloved?</p><p> </p><p>The cornerstone was familiar</p><p>but unrecognizable</p><p>and I didn’t understand why infinity</p><p> </p><p>was seeping into my hair</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Somebody said:</p><p>“He’s out of his bottle”</p><p> </p><p>I guess it meant</p><p>Temporarily out of service and empty.</p><p> </p><p>But then there was Arsene</p><p>beside the last remaining cabin</p><p>wandering with his eyes on the camera</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Dynamite in his pocket</p><p>and a piece of thread</p><p> </p><p>to trap a rabbit.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Evil is a growing thing</p><p>It has its own gravity</p><p>and never answers to its name</p><p>It is a hole into chaos. It is real</p><p> </p><p>Arsene held me in his arms</p><p>He was drunk as usual</p><p>and his nipple smelled of rum</p><p> </p><p>But still I loved him—</p><p>loved him madly!—</p><p>as if he was the one</p>