David Chorlton Verse-Virtual 2017 March

March 2017

I have lived in Phoenix since 1978 when I moved from Vienna, Austria. Born in Austria, I grew up in Manchester, close to rain and the northern English industrial zone. In my early 20s I went to live in Vienna and from there enjoyed many trips around Europe, often as an artist working in watercolor. My poems have appeared in Slipstream, Skidrow Penthouse, and Poem, among others, and my Selected Poems appeared in 2014 from FutureCycle Press. http://www.davidchorlton.mysite.com

A Modern Lullaby

The lost tribes of suburbia
are wandering through the dark
while sirens wail
in the street. Hush little baby,

beneath your patchwork of moths,
while police cars race
to the edge of the world
and fire alarms ring

in a refugee’s heart. If you
wake in the night you can sip
from a bedside glass of moonlight.
It’s cool, and tastes of stars.

The Captain

There’s a ship on its stately reflection
moored to the edge of the Earth;

one being towed to a berth
which shall never release her again;

one being tossed on a wave
with ice in its teeth

and one standing proud just before
it goes down. There’s a ship

with a cargo of slaves
on calm sea, and a ship

in distress that burns day and night
as on the bridge the captain

gives the order to sail on, while admiring
the impression of his profile in the sun.

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