Sky Blossom
Sky blossom. The clouds floating
like ledgers in an embezzler's dream. In the puff
and the scandal of noonday,
the guilty lay their pillows side by side,
ready for doomsday.
I was waiting by the back gate
when they came for me. They had
hands like home-made cudgels.
The varnished panorama of the dales,
where streams are wastrels. Sky blossom.
The long grass startled like scared
hair on a cartoon head. You could
snap the air like ice.
Someone was brandishing the sun
in potato fists. The guards
had shackles on their sweetened teeth.
Seas in motion, and slanderous waves
busting over the rocks.
The gulls in check, and the whistling
of frightened hearts. In the wings,
the stand-in shivering. Sky blossom.
Someone threw a shanty
at the prisoner. Her flighty eyes
were sky blossom, filled
with stammering teardrops.