Mid-morning
I listen to the news, pause briefly
At a riot, switch off, go into the kitchen
Followed by my cat who watches
As I fork out something fishy,
Watches like that other one (black too)
On a high wall (catching the breeze)
Paws under its chin (eyes half closed)
Watching as we park (open wide)
Carefully (back legs tense)
Get out (half rises) quietly (hissing)
Walk away (jumps down and runs)
Quickly past a call box (no warning)
On the corner (we’ve got twenty minutes)
Hurry through the precinct (so many kids)
Across the car park (it’s Saturday morning)
To our pick-up (for fuck’s sake come on!)
Flashback
Waking late (mid-morning)
From his usual dream (there’s some
kind of pool but I don’t want to look)
He gets up, walks the well-remembered
Route from bedroom to kitchen,
Makes coffee, ponders breakfast,
Feeds the cat, (doesn’t care how I look)
Puts (the ground shook) on a CD,
Settles down with his book (no fuckin’ warning)
Runs a fingertip along the opening sentence,
Wishes he’d left town early that morning
(does no good)
Kevin Patrick McCann