In a gas-filled balloon with little preamble   
in the middle of the night
in DNA collection efforts dogged by questions of consent  
in the South Bronx in the sweltering summer  
in and of itself
in tents and trailers on a red, dusty plain 
in the past
in his mid to late thirties
in what could be an unfortunate reprise
in the lower right-hand corner 
in vibrations off the sun’s magnetic fields   
in the video
in sheep
in search of stability
in the prosecution’s new court filing
in mid-October
in the early 2000s 
in a car accident a year earlier
in her hands
in anticipation of receiving payment
in the leaves of the red maple on the lawn
in return
in a since-deleted Facebook post
in gestures of victory and mouthing the word “boom”
in danger of being deported
in vogue
in a country that’s been put on its heels
in our inability to monitor and study storms
in the form of an ice-bound baby mammoth
in cell phone coverage
in addition to those mistakes
in the last few years
in the end
in as much as
in the darkness.

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Image: “Out On The Curb” by Daniel Nester