wainscot

Far off in drowsy valleys/Where the meadow saffrons blow—WB Yeats
Meadow Saffron: all parts of this species are deadly poisonous. Do not collect or use.
—Collins Book of Herbs and Healing Plants of Britain and Europe
most Dim Sum restaurants are enormous—The Rough Guide to Hong Kong and Macau

just above your head on the roof is an owl
it looks down at you through the tiles

a small body tumbles down the chimney
something lands there behind the wall
patting itself down
peering out

far below
the little lights the mist the smoke

they found three dogs in a bin near here
one of them still nearly alive

down the road is a streetlight
with CCTV that captured a shot
of a murderer waiting to kill whoever turned up
he called a taxi and killed the driver
with a hammer

disguised in a hat

up the road and down a certain lane
a plane crashed in January 1944
bits of the plane can still be found
at the bottom of the pool
below the hill in the wood
if you dive down and dig in the mud
a man dived down and dug in the mud
and a hand grasped his hand

disguised in a certain hat the man down the lane
tries to hammer the owl on the roof just above
a hand grasps his hand

big white wings open in the night
but it is nothing really
just a door that closes in the mud

turn over now you are taking all my space

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