Friday 19 April 2024

1 New Poem

Triptych Panels

I hear the echo,
Turn on the Bright Lights in background
cascade of warring engine rumble,

Comes around again in spaces
between sleeping, comes around
at half-past-one, comes

When I wonder on broken glass,
shattered concrete howling
names of bomb-blasts; should

Have protested, wound not have
made a sound, would not hold
a flicking light to burning

Scent of tire rubber. I watch it
pile on the contested roadway, fearful
faces made logic in time.

I make excuses for antics,
excuses of myself, place of pride
for charming rogues, resented and

Kept a fair-minded distance from
heart and hearth, the last of
figures in Rockefeller relief

Background: the mad thieves,
ideal painters carrying wild eyes,
ambition promoters, fools all.

I sip from the ten tarot cups
of simpler comforts (good shoes,
warm linen), dream of drying

Days when versions merge
and take across their leaden
faces against street sounds.