in Liscard last week's decorated
bright tinsel tree looks withered
like it caught some rags
and they're left billowing
in the wind
dispirited the afterworks
of Christmas
undecorate themselves
a string of lights
zig zag the road
between the shops
many dead unbright
burned out black glass
bulbs hang like corpses
shops are all sales
of aftershock stock remnants
someone had a party
left all the rubbish behind
an eBay for the computerless
here too the dull-eyed
weary wander
to the sound of worn-out
Christmas songs
tired-of-it-all parents
count the days till
back-to-school beckons
on a sale bargain TV screen
pictures of the aftermath
of car bombs in a Bagdad street
as Shane MacGowan starts to sing
"It's Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank"
Jim
http://www.poetrykit.org/jim/index.htm
www.poetrykit.org
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