Ian Caws
The Visitor
Like a singing master in the old time
he approached the fresh villages,
sought out the shopkeepers and the owners
of trade vehicles but kept the bottom
of his visiting list blank. Without noise,
he stroked cats on window ledges,
called at the pub, sized up the football team.
When the others came, balancing questions
on their palms, folk forgot his name
but agreed to the description, noting
how he had, in line with their suggestions,
once attended half a council meeting.
Then they left, much as they had come,
caught various trains to far off stations.
Everywhere it was the same, women
feeling uneasy in his room
when he had gone, men turning on the news
of the fall of cities. And down the line
another voice that never showed its face,
that was not his voice yet the same,
predicting how the parliaments would burn.
he approached the fresh villages,
sought out the shopkeepers and the owners
of trade vehicles but kept the bottom
of his visiting list blank. Without noise,
he stroked cats on window ledges,
called at the pub, sized up the football team.
When the others came, balancing questions
on their palms, folk forgot his name
but agreed to the description, noting
how he had, in line with their suggestions,
once attended half a council meeting.
Then they left, much as they had come,
caught various trains to far off stations.
Everywhere it was the same, women
feeling uneasy in his room
when he had gone, men turning on the news
of the fall of cities. And down the line
another voice that never showed its face,
that was not his voice yet the same,
predicting how the parliaments would burn.
Page(s) 23
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