YOU MIGHT AS WELL
by Paul Radciffe
You
might as well
Count
the raindrops when the harbour waves are tearing themselves to fragments.
You
might as well
Hush
the cries of damned souls looking at the fading light. . . .
You
might as well
Throw
a frayed rope to the weakening arms of a drowning child. . . .
You
might as well
Ask a
lover’s forgotten shadow to dance to a love song. . . .
You
might as well
Dry
the marble eyes when the Madonna’s statue weeps. . . .
You
might as well
Look
for the lost tears in an empty orphanage. . . .
You
might as well
Tell
the bereaved it’s a welcome release. . . .
You
might as well
Sing
in harmony with the waiting wolves. . . .
You
might as well
Draw
the Queen of Cups from a worn pack. . . .
You
might as well
Stroke
hair. Imagine skin. . . .
You
might as well
Wait
for the next train. In a station closed before you were born. . . .
You
might as well
Remember
a face you can’t forget. . . .
You
might as well
Fall.
. . .
You
might as well
Know
that when the next train comes
Your job
is to stand in front of it. . . .
You
might as well
Remember
beauty
Fall
in love from a shining cliff. . . .
And
know you are blessed
Or
cursed.
For Yasmin
Paul Radcliffe is an Emergency RN. In the past,
he
worked in an area where children were sometimes afflicted with sickness of
Gothic proportions. Some are ghosts now. As a child he visited an aunt in a
haunted farmhouse. This explains a lot. Paul has worked in a variety of noisy
places unlikely to be on anyone’s list of holiday destinations. He is also a
highly suggestible subject for any cat requiring feeding and practicing
hypnosis.
