Back Lane

a villanelle


As spring rain sweetens the cool air of night
showering a million stars at my feet

moonlight falls washing the rough blue-stones white

where back-lane fences circumscribe our life

and palings point skywards like jagged teeth

as spring rain sweetens the cool air of night

kids play touch-tiggy, hopscotch, pick fights

hang around with dirty knees hungry ‘til tea

where moonlight washes the rough blue-stones white

escape is planned here for the next bank heist

safe haven for all who trespass this beat

where spring rain sweetens the cool air of night

and young girls seek refuge - give birth in flight

poverty - harsh mother of this their street

where moonlight silvers the rough blue-stones white

and memories uncurl to rise and bite

struggle on this street where life and death meet

where spring rain sweetens the cool air of night

moonlight still falls, washing the blue-stones white



Pamela Sidney 2004