Power Cut Poem by Dónall Dempsey

POWER CUT

close my eyes...open them
a cheetah advances
across the living room

a bear
at the top of a stair
comes alive in a lightning flash

flicker of candlelight
a fox stole
watches us with beady little eyes

his dead dog
faithfully
preserved forever by his side

a python
stuffed
in coils before the open fire

a tiger
sleeping the sleep of the dead
silently growls and snores

an elephant's foot
jealously guarding
a flock of umbrellas

moon shines
on a loon
trapped under a bell jar

crow caught
in the act of flying off
the taxidermist smiles

taxidermist
also a ventriloquist
lends his voice to the dead

the animals
talk amongst themselves
Monty Python meets The Twilight Zone

out on the summer lawn
the storm pretends
it's the Big Bad Wolf

his daughter's forgotten dolls
drink acid rain
from tiny broken china cups

the doll's eyes
open & close
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