2 December 2004 | Vol. 4, No. 4

Lament

This pack of pot-bellied songbirds squats

at gutter's edge all night, passing butts

of Lucky Strikes and belting the blues.

My window's stuck up and I'm laid low.


Podgy wrentit in Wayfarers and tweed,

You bust a mean harp, daddy-o.

I'm lachrymose and shivery. Shattery. Torn

up. Curled in a fetal fit, smelling my knees,


going la-la-l