HARBINGES

the elephant cry
of the bin trucks
in a dim grey dawn

harbinges

the existential wordless wail
of
a
breathless 

coughing
uncomprehending 

child

going back to school

in new stiff shoes

THAT HARBINGE SLEEP (A BRACKET GAGAKU)

the oatmilk of human kindness
has gone up 30 pence

& at night
oh yes 

there i am 

( undistracted & translucent

  in the phone screen afterglow )

worrying

( the rubble children 

  & the orbiting star net cage )

& hallucinating

( my too-vivid self 

  limping out on the wild beaches )

& waiting 

( hunched then stretched

  hunched then stretched )

for the coded 

lightning flashes
that harbinge 'sleep'