Absolution.
To the muted drum
Of my slow heart beat
One step, two step,
Each step in time.
A headless man,
A fountain of blood,
Walks uninvited
Into my dreams.
One step, two step,
Each step in time
A fountain of blood
That gushes in streams,
Covers my clothes,
Covers my eyes.
Other men standing
Leaden and still,
Faces caught frozen,
Unhinged by the sight.
One step, two step,
Each step in time.
A line of masks,
Wrinkled and creased,
Skin like leather
Painted dim white.
One step, two step,
Each step in time.
A lost ball rolling
To drip red feet,
Spins on the black track,
To show once again
The screaming wide gape
Of still twisted lips.
One step, two step,
Each step in time.
In the low long lean
Of the coal yards rise,
Smooth steel rails
Snake on the flat land
Like silvered blades.
And a raw red sun
Pours tears in the sky,
Pours scorn in the hand,
Pours fear in my eye.
One step, two step,
Each step in time.
A man on his back,
A fountain of blood
Awash in a stretcher
Continues to writhe.
To the muted drum
Of my cold heart beat.
One step, two step,
Each step in time.
1974.
Published Red Poets Magazine 2017.
First published in Rob Cullen’s poetry collection “Uncertain Times” Octavo Press 2016.
Celfypridd 