Wednesday 10 April 2024

The Patchwork



 



Each patch a slice of his life

a lens viewed at an acute angle

spliced,diced, drop-box explosion.


At first cut long and expansive

Aegean blue, teal, with just a hint of Arctic-

the steam train he drove all the way from Coalisland 

as it groaned and chuffed and hissed and lumbered

its cranks propelling the great wheels 

through the Milltown tunnel heading for Derry.


Her auburn hair cast  shades of cerulean over the next patch

and azure blue and powder blue and eggshell

recalling in glimpses the after taste of their first kiss

though the rail tracks stopped singing and his hands grew calloused

laying one brick on top of another like his father before him

and his grandfather before that


And then navy and shadow grey and one loss after another

and sage green when even she began to fade


Until finally a lattice of ochre on black

gaps and holes and footloose sleepers

where the tracks ended and he slipped over

the edge.


Copyright 2024 Cathy Leonard All rights reserved

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