Monday, April 3, 2017

James Walton #47 Enemies of the State


they are buried deep
where the marshmallow weed
in saffron flowering

hints an exotic surprise

each chemise petal floats
over the unspoken truth of address
disembarks to street signs

how they ordered pizza

pulled another toenail out
rang home to say goodnight
before anxious children slept

taken from the kerbside

a zebra crossing prey in running
the day of gloss engraved enamel
from a photographer’s almanac

the dead are not silent here

awaiting our conversation
to voice the fortitude of disobedience
while their bones applaud
 



6 comments:


  1. What a bright bone to greet my morning
    a conversation about unspoken truth!


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

    2. Enemies of the state
      look smaller every day
      inch of bone pound of fat
      spectacles are dropped
      till all of a sudden
      they're talking like rabbits
      and cannot stop

      Delete
  2. Rise rabbits, rise! I was feeling a little grim - like losing four decades of apparent social progression and cohesion to all the forces of evil, but then again....

    ReplyDelete
  3. the clattering of dry bones
    must be the best applause

    ReplyDelete
  4. James, you've got to do a sequel of Enemies of the State ... some fantastic lines and images - pizza, toenails, zebra crossings - something almost surreal about this piece that I love. Another poet born in the 50s/60s? Social progression versus neoliberalism... some days you don't want to look at the newsfeed!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.