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Sally Flint

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From a Balcony

It’s the first rain on the Rue de la Fayette in weeks,
yet the air remains static like dry leaves.
All day there has been an irritation of women,
some with miniature dogs on leads,
some unbalanced by their heels,
and the one with the brimmed hat
which glowed orange, as the lights do now.

There’s a quietness, but for the drip of a down pipe,
until a crescendo of sirens block the road below.
Ghost faces of diners in a distant window,
flash from gypsum to blue.

Camouflaged by net curtains, he wishes
he’d never spoken to her, just an hour ago.
Or heard the ricochet of glass,
above her heightened voice, before the thud.

He gathers up the complimentary cosmetics
and keys — packs his suits carefully,
around an almost empty cognac bottle.
Then the man with the neatly trimmed beard
and manicured nails leaves the fifth floor,
remembers to smile.

Sally Flint is a published writer of poetry and prose and co-editor of the short story journal, Riptide. Her doctoral research at the University of Exeter involves examining ekphrasis in contemporary poetics and education. Most recently she was a runner up in the Bridport Poetry Prize 2008.

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