They see the devil riding
Dead ivy that clings
An inkblot weathered,
In climb over cold stone.
Insidious in ascent - like
Musty damp on the rise above
The otherworld, where urban wands
Spew roots to dusty tenement clinch.
Look upon the spoilt concrete vanity
Flourishing in this city of hasty rise
Watch impatient fall, and wonder.
What do you see?
Someone told me
you were once a bird
that forgot how to land.
With restless wings that ached
to leave steadiness of earthly hands.
In flighted glide (you said) because you knew
that our fitful ways were not for you.
But now, your night and spiralled tan
lights up the room in which I swoon
bewitched - by fleeting flash of interested eyes,
all perch and hold succumbed to slipstream touch.
Someone told me that you were once a bird that forgot how to land.
Now I understand.