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OUR VOICE IS THE SUN

Dusk rolls over cities
Like a mist,
Monuments in concrete
Twilight kissed;
Neon windows sparkle
As Christmas tree stars,
Whilst the weary office Friday crowd
Wanders aimlessly to bars.

Deeper into evening,
Hours slip by ...
Watching faces, yours reflect
In mirrored eyes.
The game goes one step further –
You get to your feet
And, with the mindless bodies, sway and writhe
To hypnotic, pulsing beat.

Skirting brief encounters
Until the shock:
Glances meet electric,
Hold and lock;
Features like a goddess
You want to caress,
And then a honeyed voice gives sound to thought,
"Come with me," she says.

Down the darkened alley
Switch-blades flash,
Tom-cats yelp and scatter,
Dustcans crash,
Warmth spills out on cold earth
And paints it red;
And when at last the light splits silence
The living all have fled.

Our voice is the sun,
The wind and the driving rain;
But if now we hold our tongues
We may never get the chance to speak again.

The first rays of the morning
Grope their way
Through the maze of buildings
To that place
Where a crowd has gathered
No-one weeps,
And plain-clothes policemen shake their heads
And long to get some sleep ....
(1975)
the darkened alley
photo by Stephen Alsford

Created: November 17, 2014. Last modified: July 9, 2015 © Stephen Alsford