Jury Duty

Oh Deadman, busy day
Trying to make the world pure!
Now some dusty moth is
Banging noiselessly
Against a closed window
Trying to reach the new moon.
It makes you cold
To watch it,
In the shivering dark,
While your wife and cat
Sleep soundlessly.
It irritates you enough
To end it’s life,
Then return to bed
Amongst the sleeping bodies.
The moon climbs high
At the window
Bearing like a searchlight
Along the floor.
You heart beats like a hammer
In a small court of judgements,
As you reach for the sleeping cat

 

 

 

Sunday Evening

Windswept, time moves
As the clouds pass,
The tall grass
Flashes blue in the breeze,
Dusk settles inwards
Invoking times as a steel trap,
Herding men's minds
Into routine.

All across the town
People are setting aside books
And model sailing ships.
In dark small houses
They are brushing their teeth
And climbing under laundered sheets.

While they sleep
The clouds will pass,
Like wild geese,
Voyaging into the night.

 

 

We Were Not Serious People

We met for coffee, it was April

Our mornings were free then,

We sat in cafes on tree lined streets

That reminded you of Paris.

We flirted but made no advance,

We were not serious people,

The seriousness of our lives hadn’t begun.

We talked about love and Hemingway,

We talked about the war

We were sincere

We drank coffee until noon

In cafes on tree lined streets

On weekdays while the rain fell down.

We flirted but didn’t act,

We did nothing worth mentioning

For the rest of our lives.