Published: 9 December 2025

The Wall

Walk with me.
Meet the wall.
The wall is the end.
Deep, dense,
charcoal melt into
rusted metal door black,

the wall is grit,
corrosion tough
enough. The wall is always
paint red, lurid until
colour peels off and it’s
only itself, black, fading
to the end of light.

The wall settles into the way
of winter, first harbinger,
the wall is the back of the
fireplace, ashes rise,
last heat, the wall falls in
collapses, show’s over.

Sky crouches, curtain fallen
an extra foot over the ground.
Sun lies crumpled script page
in the prompter’s booth. It’s
not even bleeding. Timpani pound,
horns blare down last ramparts as
warmth disappears through deceit
and larceny (as we suspected.)

Smudged wet, lying like
yesterday’s newspaper in this
near frozen gutter, autumn
departs in sheet metal days,
abandoned lot surrounded by
wall of cheap rust iron, we must
endure even this as we survey
what remains, the dying of light.

More Poetry:

Pun-aphors

A pigeon flew at me and made me duck.
I was excited by the bow and arrow, but I no longer get that quiver.
I wanted to write an alphabet in a boat, but I floundered at sea.
I got a dog and wanted us to have pet Latin names — he was going to be Canus, but my friend said “You can’t be Sirius.”

Your Evil Eye

Your evil eye
is much more beautiful
than the other one.

Your evil eye

WW#3

WW#3’s on, no one knows it
first one who says so — they’re the one who blows it
satellite views won’t disclose it
eleven o’clock news is on, but somebody sold it

Father and Child in the Water

You’ve taken her further than Mom would,
now, her giggles are sneezes and tears.
I look up from my book, see you splash,
try to scare the voracious horse fly

white cat

white cat appears at the head of the stairs
disappears as footsteps approach
white cat rests on the crest of the wave
skitters away across multiple planes

Northern water, once again

Get in the water.
This fresh lake bears no threat,
close to mother as you could imagine.

First steps seem simple,
but be deliberate. Step
into the lake, into the water, away

Related

Pun-aphors

Pun-aphors

A pigeon flew at me and made me duck.
I was excited by the bow and arrow, but I no longer get that quiver.
I wanted to write an alphabet in a boat, but I floundered at sea.
I got a dog and wanted us to have pet Latin names — he was going to be Canus, but my friend said “You can’t be Sirius.”

read more
WW#3

WW#3

WW#3’s on, no one knows it
first one who says so — they’re the one who blows it
satellite views won’t disclose it
eleven o’clock news is on, but somebody sold it

read more

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