looks like freedom but it feels like death,
it’s something in between, I guess
……….– Leonard Cohen
Another day sunny
on the outside
and bitter at the core.
Kestrels are flying
from tree to tree
hungry for hatchlings
and graceful
as they glide against the sky.
No-one can be sure
whether someone else’s smile
means friendship or mockery
when the difference
is equal to that
between science and the book
of Genesis. Dice
are rolling across
the ice caps and the day
is interrupted for news
that information
is being stored
in a cloud to preserve it
from those who deny
the undeniable. Next comes
cheap talk from wealthy lips
speaking with all the conviction
of a tabloid
trying to become
a newspaper. It feels
like carnival season
with The Last Post
at sunset, just before
Fear knocks to be let in
and a place at the table
is already set.
David Chorlton 2017
Illustration nick victor