Thursday, August 2, 2012

Two Poems by P.A. Levy

Jericho Men
 
on their way home from the pub the men
with their shirt sleeves rolled-up
ready for good old-fashioned violence
shout at a wall
urinate against it to demonstrate contempt
throw bottles as an act of intent 
 
aggressively the wall collapses
towards them
the men in their rolled-up shirt sleeves
have their faces smacked
by their own voices
instantly they are emotionally crushed
but from under the rubble they’re couch
ready for a spot of therapy
 
because these days we’re all camera
protected and the current trend tends to be
wire fences
it makes shouting pointless
as the sound goes right through
and is never heard again
 
 
 
 
A Top Secret Affair
 
Above the table
they were swan like, haughty
in their uninterested demeanour
but she had slipped off her shoe, and her
inquisitive stockinged foot advanced.
Probed
between his legs as she sighed
in morse.
Their first behind the lies engagement.
 
After the main course
the dessert campaign begins with
a silence, perforated by sips of wine,
fidgety adjustment of a silver necklace
and of a polyester tie
becoming a hand-ironing of the tablecloth.
Smooth.
Their first inter-course.
 
After a drink of Dutch courage,
they loitered in the hotel lobby to sign
the register: false names, trying,
ever so hard, to look casual
in an awkward un-classified quiet.
But they were all fingers and thumbs.
Anticipation of
their first undercover assignment.
 
 
 
 
Born East London but now residing amongst the hedge mumblers of rural Suffolk, P.A.Levy has been published in many magazines, from ‘A cappella Zoo’ to ‘Zygote In My Coffee’ and stations in-between. He is also a founding member of the Clueless Collective and can be found loitering on page corners and wearing hoodies at www.cluelesscollective.co.uk

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