Milieu

Along the mantle is a framed photograph:
'My milieu and I'

It is crowded beneath the glass:
Thousands of paperbacks,
The Internet,
Tears absorbed by a rag
removed from the mouth
of a dissident.
The attack dog's hot, meaty breath.
Confusion over which direction to pray.
Hands cannot be clasped together as
they have broken every bone that
supports the skin.

Huddling, cold and its lonely
upon the periphery.