Darkness pools in corners

Darkness pools in corners

Unplumbed depths at the centre

Steam rises through gratings

In the pavement

A black and white movie

A comic strip romance

Skirts are blown

By an invisible wind

Marilyn has a way about her

Some like it hot

Especially in midwinter

When dewdrops freeze,

Knuckles crack

And people in single rooms

Hunker down

Under dirty blankets

Wrapped in an old duvet

In front of a one-bar fire

Condemned as unsafe

Several times over

By an inspector

From the local council

Old wrinklies

Nere-do-wells

Those who rose too high

Fell to far

Sad little liars

With forget-me-not faces

Counting the cost

Drinking fortified tea

Warming their hands

On the cup

To circulate the blood

Listening to a political broadcast

From the “You’ve never had it so good.’

Party

Led by a poe-faced

Hoorah Henry

Who knew how to throw a shindig

Back in the day

So they say.

His shmooze

Warms the heart of

The old lag in number five

Who was once a contender

Until he succumbed to temptation

And got hooked,

Not by a lefty but a sucker punch

From a shady character

Dealing brown.

Charlie has a way of doing that

Coke head Ted and Tab End Lil

Still, dance the fandango

To a jazz band in a dive bar.

They don’t do politics

But have both seen better days

And are rarely abroad in daylight

Shuffling about in carpet slippers

All day

Dressing at night in the dark

Looking for a last fling

When the last thing anybody

With any sense of decorum wants

Is to be seen dead

With a glimpse of their future

Reflected back at them.

They both crawl home alone,

Wired up for sound

With a panic button

A key to an electric mobility

Scooter

They park in the hall

And no idea of where it came from.