Pandemonium

A fierce wind
         caught in the mirror
a frenzy of branches
         lashing out
on this wild night
         a moon almost full
almost avuncular
         in that black sky

I imagine the stars
         going out one by one
and wonder
         who could possibly
be turning them off
          Desire is of the body
and of the mind
         a soothing narrative
except when in conflict
         one against the other

She brought daffodils
         a bouquet of sunlight
and yet in the darkness
         the only light I could see
was there in her eyes
         Someone on the street
was laughing to himself
         such a lonely sound
it seemed to me

The final words
         Charles I muttered
under his breath
         I have no head
for history
         On a night I dreamt
I could not sleep
         I dreamt I slept

John Lyons