They stole out

They stole out

In the heat of night

Like boarders

At a private school

Seeking recreation

Crawling out

Ducking below the window

The Porter snoring,

In his seat.

He wore keys on his belt

Like a jailer,

Fat as an elephant

Drunk as a skunk.

They paid for the privilege

The men and women

Left for dead

Wrapped in shrouds

Risen

Resurrected

From their slumber

At lights out

Old people reborn

Cavorting beneath a full moon

A cabal of mummers

Having the devil of a time

Keeping to the shadows

Beside the Rhododendrons

Ornamental shrubbery

The grass shaved as close

As a monk’s tonsure

They had mastered the art

Of silent dancing

Ghostly apparitions

To anybody at a window

Cackling like old witches

Over a hot toddy

Feeling alive for an hour

Before midnight

Slipping back into bed

Before dawn

Helped to the toilet

Fed through a straw

Sworn at and slapped

For being too slow

Too heavy

Too bony

Too soiled

Too ungrateful

Too dead to be alive.