Subterfuge

The chivalrous hour wanes when home commences;

fugacious cities forget, while the train

nervously repeats the grovelling leitmotif;

and signals all, with incandescent rigour,

to recognise such sketches of defeat

but not to shape opprobrious conceit.

The misery of parked cars, provoking the wind

with forgotten flutes flowing between winsome folds,

eagerly disrupting silent thoughts

and the indolence of reputable people:

contemplative of fawning indecision —

subterfuge defined by strong elision.

(5th September 2021)