David Penn
Robbie
The passengers charge the steps
like Spartacus’s men, and Robbie’s there
to urge them on. The station shouts
from all its mouths to make him leave,
but someone’s got to watch the enemy.
They, outside, control the high street,
tapping in their cars. They never think
he sees them when he hides flat up
between the traffic lights and paper stand.
Sometimes, though, he roars and waves
the Can of Liberty, and then they know:
he speaks the truth. He tells them:
‘Don’t despair’. And from his milk crate
with his blanket round his chest
he says it all, like Lenin
and the flower-sellers hand him bouquets
and the chorus line of tube card beggars
dances just for him.
like Spartacus’s men, and Robbie’s there
to urge them on. The station shouts
from all its mouths to make him leave,
but someone’s got to watch the enemy.
They, outside, control the high street,
tapping in their cars. They never think
he sees them when he hides flat up
between the traffic lights and paper stand.
Sometimes, though, he roars and waves
the Can of Liberty, and then they know:
he speaks the truth. He tells them:
‘Don’t despair’. And from his milk crate
with his blanket round his chest
he says it all, like Lenin
and the flower-sellers hand him bouquets
and the chorus line of tube card beggars
dances just for him.
Page(s) 13
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