Departure Days

Departure days childhood beats torn
Lights are lit fever subsided
Rigamortis
Drum beats death tatoo
A smile, no, a smirk - a thought
Fear dissipates then snaps back
A dip, a trench, a well, no choice
Those old languid thoughts distant
My shadow falls in their direction
Ribs strain, cornea burn, a choke hold

Parade

Seven turns on trumpets worn
With silver bells and faces shorn
Penguin suits and prettly flutes
Women wearing flitty skirts

Tassles drawn and kites aloft
Helium haze, men in brass and buttons unfazed
Undone laces, merry eyes and squinty faces
Boy at home, to fill my spaces