Harbinger

Twilight deepens
In the graveyard
And the first cicadas sing

Moth’s quick shadow
On the gravestone
Human skull between its wings

The moth’s soft touch
Against your cheekbone
Fear is such a fragile thing

The harbinger
Glimpsed by moonlight
Human skull between its wings

Price List

For fun verse,
Shrieks and hollers
$20

For lyrical flights
That know no bounds
£20

For passionate prose
At Uncle Joe’s
20eu

For light verse and nonsense
That’s less intense
20p

Write a poem
With me
Free

After Words

When the nurse said
You may cry
bloodstained tears

My first thought was
how to fit
those two words

into a poem

Cataract

A simple operation
As operations go
We make a tiny cut
Remove your cataracted lens
Slip in a new one

I am nervous. Several
trips to the loo. I’m cold
Eye drops dilate the eye
My pupil is a big, black yolk
I’m watching the clock

A porter takes me upstairs
A hot June day. The view –
Beyond white roofs, the sea
I’m on the table. Don’t cross your legs
The nurse chides gently

Drops anaesthetise my eye
A ring holds my eyelid
An injection numbs
Some things a patient rarely sees
His own procedure

I’m wired up. Peeps and hums
People bustle about
My face is covered
Lights dance before my blurred vision
I’m holding my breath

Breath evenly! And do not move,
It makes my job harder,
The surgeon says. Half way.
I concentrate on keeping still
Time crawls through shadows

A nurse holds my hand
A human connection
In that bright place of knives and chrome
It’s done, the surgeon says, It was tricky
I’m wheeled away

I’m back with Jill. The nurse
Brings us tea and toast
Instructions – keep your eye patch
on tonight. Four weeks of drops
Going home. Sunshine