she says she’s leaving the city
that she needs to get back to nature
and i say ‘there’s lots of nature in the city
it’s just kept in boxes
contained
where it belongs’
but she doesn’t laugh

she says ‘that’s why i need to get out’
and i have nothing to say to that
so go off
to skulk sullenly
in the streets of the city

where i see rats and roaches
in the street
and pigeon crap above
and grass attacking cracks by feet
near condoms full of love

and i come to see
that the city is a garden
full of nature
if you choose to look

just as the country is full of diversity
and the sky is full of seas
and everything is nothing
as much as naught will ever be
so if she says she’s leaving
then however much i plead
she must surely venture
if leaving’s what she needs.