Observations of
Daylight

Lilacs and the grand poplar
Fix their shadows in the brevity
Of this grass, this garden
I have known since youth.

Somewhere there are birds,
A distance of chatter, remorseless
And absurd as Charlemagne
Stammering into a final breath.

These words are brutal as smiles
Falling in unforgivable grace,
The only probable a demise,
These lilacs, the poplar

Like italicised dreams
Sitting and waiting
Until the forbidden happens
And I take my smile,

Drag it to an invisible
Then the last word spoken
Until morning comes,
A sun rising on such ridicule.

John Cornwall

If you've any comment on this poem, John Cornwall would be pleased to hear from you.