Persley Walled Garden Poem by Sheena Blackhall

a walled garden surrounded by:
one deer of an excitable disposition
three vandals in top of the range trainers.
a castleful of OAPs
a constipation of traffic
flown over by:

arthritic pigeons with iron hinges
a plethora of planes
a sparrow which unaccountably dropped its nest
smelling of:

four star petrol
assorted herbs

slithered upon by:
a spaghetti of worms
an ooze of snails
with:

rising damp in the lawn
which is shaved to a number one
one coy tesco bag tucked under a hedge's wing
a concrete pre-cast fountain with nozzle implants
a thrush enjoying a cold collation of Red Thai chicken salad
a rose's foreskin pulled back red and crinkly,
releasing a single drop
of wobbly
dew

and all marked out like a freemason's apron,
measured and made precisely,
like the Sun King's parterres.
live workers tribute to dead workers
resting in peace after the final whistle.

A solitary
ant
crawls over a bag of crisps.