We fall among thieves

We fall among thieves

Too easily

We live with vagabonds

Preaching restraint

As they poison the water

To keep the people

Supplicant,

Mending their socks

Spending their time

Backs bent

Over the task

With little left

For roses.

Hands clenched

Into fists

Fighting rheumatism

Opening like petals

To free a butterfly

From captivity.

Making a nuisance of themselves

In the margins

Spilling blood

Over dust sheets.

Radio activity

Plays a funeral march

On a set of crystals

Illuminating a corner

Of the earth

Where trench coats hang

Dripping wet.

The sweat on the brow

Of the hill

Raisies more questions

Than was ever answered

By a Polaroid

Pointing the way

To the poorhouse

Next to the knacker's yard

Where a butcher

Works corruption

Into his blood work.

And weighs the cost

Of fresh meat

Against the odds

Of a free market

Sprouting

From a bed of roses.