Greenfinch

When the Russian girl arrived late to intermediate tango class
Upstairs in Pretoria Road church hall
Wearing white tennis shorts, she brought to mind
A greenfinch (in the Pocket Book of Birds)
That ‘brings a welcome touch of colour to suburban gardens’
And is partial to elm seed. So that one imagined
Old men scattering elm seed wildly in their allotments
And waking up a hundred years later
In a forest of elm trees. They stumble
About in a forest blind with tears
To the music of Rodriguez’s guitar concerto
And hang onto furniture
To stop themselves falling over in their kitchens
And drink tea shakily from enamel mugs.



In Blackwell’s Mezzanine
...