Lamplight

Lamplight reflected in puddles
We walk down these rainwashed streets
The sky is a navy blue dome arching
Over us. We look up. Enraptured
And we savour the silvery

Flavour of the stars. We move on.
Surrounded by city walls. Rats run
Beneath our feet and tramps seek shelter
And hurl a welter of curses at us
As we pass but we pay them no mind

And focus on the road ahead
A smooth black ribbon we trace its curve.
We stand on an arched bridge watching
The river swell and, agile and audacious,
We climb over the wrought iron gates

Of a great stone mansion
We wander through its unlit grounds
While within, in dark chambers,
The wealthy sleep on feather beds
And debutantes weep as stealthily we creep

Across the stone courtyard
Our hopes as high as the owl's cry
For anything is better than nothing
We lie on the damp lawn and we sleep
A sleep as deep as death