They Were Closing Deals

They were closing deals.
They were sleeping and waking.
They were done drinking.
*
It was difficult.
They were badly out of breath.
They were overweight.
*
They opened the door.
They ran out into the street
because the street called.
*
There's nothing to see,
they said, and could see nothing
that would help them see.
*
They were hanging in
under a star shower. Bright
sparks in the darkness.
*
It was a bad year
to be stuck outside. It was
all storm and stutter.
*
It was a long year
to be ending. It was hard
to keep track of it.
*
It was elegy
without a subject. It was
simply vanishing.