Cloud 23
From lofty Hilton heights,
floor-to-ceiling windows
reveal urban lights
flash and fade,
resembling space-capsule
beams
circling feast of nightfall
razzmatazz,
mirrors the sparkle
of frothy Fosters
grasped by weary
fingers that betray fingernails
needing a trim -
Tomorrow, tomorrow,
perhaps I’ll get around
to doing the million and one
things scrawled on my ‘To do list’
now the length of a full month
of not dones:
... pay car insurance
... catch-up call with Elise
... make appointment with dentist
... visit mum at Hathersage
... cut finger and toe nails
Another sip
from near-empty pint,
as my companion
returns to his place
opposite
He smiles a smile
which seems to have been
stitched on from birth
I allow the corners of my mouth
to twitch upward, despite
the dull mechanical ache
hammering the seat
of my spine
“You look beautiful” he says
I turn away,
look out into the glittering
page beyond the muted black
and wonder how life
became so confused, complicated.
Catherine Mark
