Solitary

Late night talk radio

Blows across empty car parks

Music bounces off frosted windows

A voice tunnels through dark alleys.

What if nobody is listening?

Tradition

I stand on ice

How thick I do not know

Embedded in tradition

Solid and cold

Feet thick or inches

Does it matter if I do not know?

First steps

First class

Standing against the back fence

Covered in Lorraine Lee rose

One foot thrust forward ready to meet the world

And you my brother about to leave me

To my own resources

At the age of five

Past Goodbyes

An express train

Blurs through an empty station

Scatters memories of stale goodbyes

Some drift to earth

But most float away

Forever forgotten.

Time

Morning knocks on my door politely

Two Mormons in dark shiny suits.

Midday is a rude foot in the door

And night like an argument,

Sudden,

Bitter,

And unexpected.