Tuesday 9 July 2013

A farewell to your arms



It was a sunny autumn day -
the sunlight soft
as baby’s first blonde hair
brushed against the right cheek.

An autumnal day of slanted light,
like that last promise we’d meet
that will never be met -

life intrudes and roosts,
curled toes and ruffled feathers, like pigeons
in the shadows of the truly intended words.

In the distance I heard the calls of men,
the umpires' whistles
and the distant thwump
of a leather ball being kicked.

My hand felt then, the skin
that shivered beneath the flannelette shirt
and I wondered what distant events
might kick this leather again.

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