Halcyon

’Do you need to be anywhere?’

No.

A halcyon night in the city, when you know where to go

Away from the streets, away from the smell of barley on strangers' breaths

The reflections of the golden bellies of bridges on the black water like still, quiet netherworlds

A glimpse into a reality so unlike ours and yet attainable, only here in the immovable shade

Voices down the pathway, and we pick up our pace

Through gates and wet grass, over lonely gushing sprinklers and deeper into the murk of the cobalt night

Finally we arrive at the fragrant garden of roses of all variety; fat, in full blossom, rapidly losing their scent in the aftermath of summer

We push our faces in them, greedy for the last of their perfume

This is good here, I think, alone and safe and rare