In the night
A civilisation’s bare rib exposed
In the night knowing fear
Of a life gone wrong
Days spent learning to love myself again
Cranks and eccentrics on a ward
Flotsam and jetsam knowing more
young academic come unstuck
Sat frozen by day by the lake
In the park
Reading Neanaponika Thera
Kerouac, Roethke, Fromm
A Life sentence
Fate etched in black and white
the broken fingernail
Traced words across the page
To no avail
In the night there is no Hell
Burns like cold fire
Burns inside the skull
Bird, field, frozen hedgerow
A world withdrawn
Where angels dance in burning fields
Of untrodden virgin white snow
Devils in disguise
Tracing strange pathways through wooded grounds
A fire burning in the skull
