Dennis Casling
The Stranger
It was very cold and everybody talked about the War.
I thought they meant the War in Heaven.
The stranger leaned the dining table
on its side to stop the draught
and chopped up furniture to keep the fire in.
I think he was a hunter. I was dressed in furs
with a hat over my face and only room for my eyes.
He put me on a sledge he made
and carried me over the frozen canal.
Sometimes I caught him in bed with my mother,
but mostly he was out hunting.
He came home smelling of oily rags.
He must have been hiding under the railway trucks.
He lived with us as a ghost,
came and went like a cat with a cat’s meow.
He stayed even when we had all left home.
When I returned he always said, Hello, Stranger.
I thought they meant the War in Heaven.
The stranger leaned the dining table
on its side to stop the draught
and chopped up furniture to keep the fire in.
I think he was a hunter. I was dressed in furs
with a hat over my face and only room for my eyes.
He put me on a sledge he made
and carried me over the frozen canal.
Sometimes I caught him in bed with my mother,
but mostly he was out hunting.
He came home smelling of oily rags.
He must have been hiding under the railway trucks.
He lived with us as a ghost,
came and went like a cat with a cat’s meow.
He stayed even when we had all left home.
When I returned he always said, Hello, Stranger.
Page(s) 26
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