Barbara Dordi
Shady Dealings
Du Grenouillage
Too bright a green for camouflage,
as perfect as a click-frog
and just as still, caught behind
the open shutter, legs tucked in.
Then you jumped - Spiderman -
stuck splat to the window.
Midnight. Your soft-plop leaps
under my bed have me wide awake.
So you snuck in after all.
Hanging over the edge, I see you
dragging fluff behind you -
remote refuse - intimate waste.
I watch and wait.
You don’t turn into a prince.
Perhaps you were the Dauphin
whose shady dealings caused the Maid
to be burned, her name soaring
to sainthood, whilst yours Dauphin
died with the flames that sentenced you
to gloom behind shutters, under beds, in
gutters. But no, my dust buster friend,
your hide-and-seeking is merely shyness.
You never could have been the dastardly
Dauphin, you’re just too perfect.
as perfect as a click-frog
and just as still, caught behind
the open shutter, legs tucked in.
Then you jumped - Spiderman -
stuck splat to the window.
Midnight. Your soft-plop leaps
under my bed have me wide awake.
So you snuck in after all.
Hanging over the edge, I see you
dragging fluff behind you -
remote refuse - intimate waste.
I watch and wait.
You don’t turn into a prince.
Perhaps you were the Dauphin
whose shady dealings caused the Maid
to be burned, her name soaring
to sainthood, whilst yours Dauphin
died with the flames that sentenced you
to gloom behind shutters, under beds, in
gutters. But no, my dust buster friend,
your hide-and-seeking is merely shyness.
You never could have been the dastardly
Dauphin, you’re just too perfect.
Page(s) 22
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