The Brick
(i)
It hit me without warning.
Right on the back of the head
as I was walking down the street,
minding my own business
causing little trouble to anyone.
I had no warning.
Well, maybe just before it hit,
maybe a millisecond, or maybe less,
just before it hit,
maybe as the flat face of baked red clay
brushed the hairs on the back of my neck
my mind was just about to say,
‘Hey, what’s this?’
(ii)
Bang!
A flash. My world turned red,
then black, then, as I was standing there,
the whole world turned on its side
as I stood and watched.
There was no pain, of course.
There never is right at first.
That came later, later when I realised
that the world was still upright,
and I was not standing
watching the world fall over,
but lying flat on my face
in the gutter.
Of course I should have seen it coming.
After all, I’d had thirty years warning.
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- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
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- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The