Visions of the Last Day of the Year

Graham Nunn

1.
picture a sky
where no one sleeps
blood-red clouds
curl into fists
as helicopters circle
take aim overhead

and the broken-hearted fugitives
meet in the city square

2.
the city square
boarded in on three sides
buckles before the escape
of sunlight     before
every evening     but this one

3.
there is a graveyard in the farthest corner

4.
picture the target
the confusion of voices
we fall down stairs
and eat the quiet earth

5.
364 days have passed
in a hut beneath a bridge
there is nothing to be found