Poem: The House Opposite

A picture poem.....

An old aquarium in an upper room.

It is an aquarium behind that door,

They swim around the ruins of a house

Blistered, cracked, collecting its pension.

Such odd neighbours saying such bizarre things,

Dresses out of charity shops 100 years old.

Strange creatures. Looking to their window

We imagine them over their evening meal.

Ugly bloated toads belch from black saucepans 

A puny herb complains about the smell.

Closing the curtains, switching off the TV,

We watch a fairy tale alive across the street.

The ceiling a star-filled summer night, 

Monkeys dancing the Polonaise

And Cat sleeps in the moon.

‘How sweet’ says Peacock, quoting Eluard.

Such odd people at number 28

In red tights and green velvet gowns,

That have seen better centuries

Their velvet a scriptorium of thread.

We open the curtains to see if still there;

Sash windows held together by cobwebs

The front door with its magic spell;

It opens. Marge puts a milk bottle down.