Two Poems by P.A. Levy

Jericho Men

 

on their way home from the pub the men

with their shirt sleeves rolled-up

ready for good old-fashioned violence

shout at a wall

urinate against it to demonstrate contempt

throw bottles as an act of intent 

 

aggressively the wall collapses

towards them

the men in their rolled-up shirt sleeves

have their faces smacked

by their own voices

instantly they are emotionally crushed

but from under the rubble they’re couch

ready for a spot of therapy

 

because these days we’re all camera

protected and the current trend tends to be

wire fences

it makes shouting pointless

as the sound goes right through

and is never heard again

 

 

 

 

A Top Secret Affair

 

Above the table

they were swan like, haughty

in their uninterested demeanour

but she had slipped off her shoe, and her

inquisitive stockinged foot advanced.

Probed

between his legs as she sighed

in morse.

Their first behind the lies engagement.

 

After the main course

the dessert campaign begins with

a silence, perforated by sips of wine,

fidgety adjustment of a silver necklace

and of a polyester tie

becoming a hand-ironing of the tablecloth.

Smooth.

Their first inter-course.

 

After a drink of Dutch courage,

they loitered in the hotel lobby to sign

the register: false names, trying,

ever so hard, to look casual

in an awkward un-classified quiet.

But they were all fingers and thumbs.

Anticipation of

their first undercover assignment.

 

 

 

 

Born East London but now residing amongst the hedge mumblers of rural Suffolk, P.A.Levy has been published in many magazines, from ‘A cappella Zoo’ to ‘Zygote In My Coffee’ and stations in-between. He is also a founding member of the Clueless Collective and can be found loitering on page corners and wearing hoodies at www.cluelesscollective.co.uk