Alan Wickes

Dream Song

Under thy shadow by the piers I waited;
Only in darkness is thy shadow clear.

1. A view from Washington Bridge

'O come on down, O come on down,' the river
lures our famous, fucked-up poet, 'behold
these languid, shit-streaked waters, feel the shiver
that chilled old Mr Bones.' Henry, the cold
North wind blows in from Manitoba; we know
you suffer, wake hungover, grow too old.
Your dream song asks, 'Where did it all go wrong?'
The literati freaks observe you clinging
to the parapet - speculate how long
it takes to lose your grip. Henry singing
raucously, a bitter chariot swings low,
de Ol' Man River say, 'Let go, Let go.'


2. Sotto in Su

First rule of comedy, when all else fails -
fall over. Timing though, is everything;
even as you clamber across the rails
you sense they've seen it coming. Still, you fling
yourself towards the slivered sun,
Icarus, upside down tumbling, falling
towards the sky's blank mirror.
'The meaningless underside of bridges'-
who knows better the travesty of horror,
the perfect peace beyond enticing edges,
the garden where your nightmare first begun,
Father slumped, stock-still next to his gun.

© Alan Wickes