Echoes of drunken youth
Fill the sleepy city air
Alarmed birds sing out
.
Songs from blackbirds
Awake under amber lights
Hope of dawn found false.
.
Weary sleep disturbed
Workers wrestle with nightmares
Birdsong wakes dreamers
.
Time mocks tired eyes
Becomes a slippery snake
When will peace arrive?
.
Lovers enrapt lie
Barely napping under sheets
Night too short for lust
.
Beneath card cover
Alcohol dead street dweller
Charity absent
.
Hospital machines
Bleep and pulse in heated wards
Nurses defy death
.
Fox trots around town
Snatches nuggets from waste bin
Chickens at last free
.
Range of noise and light
Challenge nocturnal rhythm
Man lost to nature
.
Cool autumn air shifts
Trees gently shake off last leaves
Serene moon floats past
.
CLP 24/11/2018
