In the End

At night we sealed the light in, to be safe.

There was music, and the sewing machine whirred.

We played on the rug with a painted wooden car,

Like the one Daddy used to drive, when there was petrol.

 

Now every night the warden was on his bike,

In the pitch-black streets, checking the dark houses

In case the careless light was spilling out.

The rain on his rubber raincoat, smelling of the dark.

 

One time I stood in the garden in the night

And looking up; all the sky was blazing.

They are stars: Like daisies in the summer grass

My sister said, like marguerites, like daisies.

 

Because the lights escaped into the sky

We slept on a mattress under the oak table.

In her mask my sister looked like Mickey Mouse.

It was green and metal and rubber smell

Over my face. I screamed in it, breathless.

 

This was all because; but one day there was commotion.

Fussing and dressing in coats and going out into the night.

My aunt pulled me up by the arm on the trolley bus platform.

We kneeled on the seat, and the stars had fallen down.

 

All the blaze of the sky was caught in the trees.

The windows were full of light spilling onto the people.

My aunt said, ‘don’t worry, because it’s all over now.’

The mad people were happy and singing,

Nobody giving a thought to what might come after.