You Can't Pretend in the Dark
The anxious winds that weave and wind
Your jumper on the washing line
A hand me down from mother’s side
But the threads are drifting apart
On the pitches where we scraped our shins
They’ve built a new development
But model homes aren’t serious
Still the locals disapprove
The crimson parts that drip with shame
In locker rooms. I won’t evade
This ambient uncertainty
But you can’t pretend in the dark
Remember when I cut my neck
Erupting plumes on milky flesh
They billowed like your cousin’s dress
Through market stalls in June
And somewhere on the crowded page
I saw your dad’s obituary
But never found the cemetery
So I sat and drank in my car