William Park
The Hermit's Cat
For Terence Charnley
Face down in the puddle, dead weight.
The railway line all year is empty.
A high wire unbalances
a lone star to an unseen drop.
Infamous in the pigsty cabin
the hermit shakes his keys,
kicks the table
with grandiose ease.
The boy who dabbed
his frustration with the cat
clutches the bunk-bed pillow in sleep;
his sister remains awake beneath
untouched by the glowing apricots
of the security light in their garden.
Beyond the hedge
lie miles of metal silence.
Hidden by dark,
behind the oak tree
a young woman
embraces the devil.
It’s later than they imagine
in the encroaching chill.
Her fur slides
from cool blue shoulder hill.
With his stick, stroking past
stinging nettles, tempted by the smell
of mint surrounding friendless fields
the hermit is inconsolable, and weeps.
For a moment in stillness he hears
the woman’s unsheathing, a tender climax
as he follows the scent of affection
piercing and fearful in the apricot light.
Page(s) 104
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