" title="Brittle Star Mary Michaels
The Abandoned Quarter
The war is at the top of the hill
just up there
in that tree-lined suburb
at the edge of the town
its expensive flats abandoned
and the roadway empty
how tightly the rest of the city
draws away from it
you never hear it mentioned now
and nobody goes there
so why do I stop
turn and look towards it
my hands full of blue plastic bags
weighed down with groceries?
From under the tarmac
through cracks that are invisible
blue flames flicker
as pointed as holly leaves
and just out of sight
in the cover of the tree-trunks
bare-headed, fair-headed
his gun across his stomach
a soldier stands braced
the war’s coming closer
go home now quietly.
just up there
in that tree-lined suburb
at the edge of the town
its expensive flats abandoned
and the roadway empty
how tightly the rest of the city
draws away from it
you never hear it mentioned now
and nobody goes there
so why do I stop
turn and look towards it
my hands full of blue plastic bags
weighed down with groceries?
From under the tarmac
through cracks that are invisible
blue flames flicker
as pointed as holly leaves
and just out of sight
in the cover of the tree-trunks
bare-headed, fair-headed
his gun across his stomach
a soldier stands braced
the war’s coming closer
go home now quietly.
Page(s) 20
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