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Tuesday 24 March 2009

Lullaby for Cuckoo

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Did you suffer, or was it just the one who made you?
Little bird, deluded or self-deluded,
close your eyes, and let these chirps resound
mechanically. Was vision the clue you lacked,
when emerging from the works you sang sweetly
of midnight, though it was purple noon
and purple riot ran through you, while
the big hand batted and rocked around
the clock, and you alone had time for me?
Or was homo faber the missing link
who forged you in his workshop of stupid toys?
Either way, the little hand is catching up,
the door is opening; you aren’t coming out.


.

2 comments:

Dale said...

Tom, this is such a great poem. That "purple riot" and "stupid toys" arrive, timed perfectly. Poor bird....

Anonymous said...

Dale,

Mechanical cuckoos everywhere will surely appreciate these sentiments.