Poem of the Month

A new poem will be placed here each month, usually from one of my published collections.

My poem for January 2021 is The Disappeared

The Disappeared

Well-mannered, taking their time,
they watch us from the wings.
No rush to judgement,
rather a ruminant silence:
like slow beasts shut in a long shed,
chewing their bales of shaken hay.

They were present once
with sharp tongues,
long ripples of companionable laughter,
flashing zig-zags of wit.
But now their talk is gone;
they are watchers and waiters.

Sometimes a sound betrays them,
an ugly clatter, a distant slam,
the scatter of broken glass.
Then the night is still again:
wine revolved in a glass,
held to the light for its ruby glow.