Alone

 Winter has come to the town.

The growth of the grass is stunted,

The song of the bird muted.

The long evenings draw in,

An old acquaintance looking

For a warm home to rest his

Cold, numbing roaming breast.

The TV is showing more repeats,

And I listen to music in the bath.

Reflecting on people who are

Survived in my past, friends and

Foes who are now defunct, and I

Wish I knew of their current fates,

Who they’ve loved, what they’ve borne,

And everything tangible that has

Made them the individual that

They have now become.

 

A white bitter frost has spread

Itself across the pathways and

Desperately tries to infiltrate

The unappealing lighted subway.

I hear a distant shriek, and a far

Heavy cry, smoke from the factories

Ejects itself from the industrial

Estate, kicking and screaming,

Heavy and polluted, it is in its

Final throngs of trying to break

Free from the umbilical cord

Of heavy industry….

 

I enter the high street,

Some boisterous youths exit

A fast food place,

The glove of evening places it’s

Fingers and fabric upon them,

They zip up their coats abruptly

Adjust their baseball caps accordingly.

The jovial banter from the boozer

Is enticing, I have friends inside

Who are expecting me, but tonight

I will shun their company