The Witching Hour
Poem 4 of 10 in Canto for David, poems about Israel and Palestine
Who will watch the
Unwatched
Time
When seconds
Smear
And the day
Slowly tears
Leaking out
Listen carefully
And you might hear:
The stripling spirits
Suspire
As the freighted minutes
Calve and collapse
Into the viscous
Liquid hour
A waiting baiting time
For law abiding
Punctual men
Stood poised
Ready for
The bitter business
(with their tired scissors)
Can you hear them?
They are coming…
The unchilding time
Hush now
Be oh so quiet that
You and I might sleep
Our bodies
Complicit
Safe in our silence
The time of fear
For amber children
Criminals or
Pre-crime
If left unarrested
Trapped by history
In the dying hours of the day
They are
Coming out
Ready or not
It’s 2 a.m.
Again.
From Canto for David, ten poems about Israel and Palestine. The introduction, dedications and suggested reading are on the Canto’s page.
