Spring Day In London

Lakes of daffodils in Green Park
cushion the lunching couples
floodlight wedding guests
drifting to receptions at the Ritz.

At the Royal Academy
rugged Aztec gods grimace,
flights of lost humming birds
weave mosaics with effulgent feathers.

Dancers sway and flame
like candles, casual as fire
patterning to music
and a drum's decree.

A peerless sky all day
the city smiling
strangers speaking.
IT'S WAR

Newspapers shriek
minds darken
early bullets whistle
through desert air

Flotillas of planes
converge screaming
on citizens

Sand-blinded soldiers
crouch in tanks
heat stifled.

Fear in the throat.

Is he there?

Sylvia Goodman