GlassFire Magazine

Home     Editorial     Fiction     Poetry     Reviews     Submissions     Contact Us

He is Lit in the Dark

Petra McQueen

He is often unnoticed.

Tonight, in the supermarket, tills bleeping,

Bright lights casting compass shadows,

He is overlooked in the queue.

A woman slips through his stance and

Crashes her basket on the counter.

He stands solitary amidst the busy bustle

Loaf of bread in hand,

Waiting to be noticed.

It was his turn.

Then, at the bus stop, night fallen,

Cars arching water from deep puddles,

The bus sweeps past him.

Passengers, lit within, front face and

Ride to homes where gas fires flicker.

He walks home in the fat rain

In and out of yellow puddles

Stained by streetlights.

He fades in the dark.

Finally, at home, curtains drawn,

Bed rumpled from fifty unwashed sleeps,

The dough of his dream rises.

A King, he imprisons the thoughtless and

Weaves them a basket of shadows.

He strides among the prostrate,

Blesses them with rainbows

Caught in oil stains,

And is lit in the dark.

Petra McQueen is a poet, writer and teacher living in the North-West of England. She is currently writing her first novel-- Unknown--and can be contacted on petramcqueen@fsmail.net.