Driving Home by MJC Harpur
National Poetry Competition 2002

Driving home by MJC Harpur

I see the road-kill gourmets convene at dawn,

Magpies in white napkins, to taste pristine faces,

Rooks formally dressed, in long sideways skips

To test the insides of ears and lips, fawn fur

Still warm, gloss gone only from the eyes.

Each corpse shows where an occult route ran

Counter to the kerb. I count the milestones:

A white cat, rabbits, an owl gripping a vole,

A badger which bundled over the cat's-eyes

Not quickly enough. The day grows older.

... continued ...

For the complete poem, please click on the following link:

• http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/comp/comm02.htm