Ties with my past

Ties with my past

The bus bumps, shock absorbers shock

And jolt my bones along the road.

How many years since I was in the dock?

And now again I await the judgement.

The bus struggles up the hillside

And jolts memories from the past.

A sickness churns deep inside

As I peek above the parapet.

The bus slows down, my heart skips a beat

Through grey streaked windows I glimpse

the carved heart that marks where we first did meet.

The wind is cold and the sky is grey.

The bus stops dead, the tree is bare.

My heart explodes like a hand grenade at war

Why should they remember, why should they care

I killed a man long ago.

The bus crunches a gear, it crunches two

And the air in my lungs burns with sorrow

I served my time, but reputation I slew

And now I am reaping the seeds.

The bus pulls away, my past catches me out

And I sigh as my gaze turns away from the tree

But then in the breeze, beyond any doubt

A ribbon of yellow is tied round its girth.

Linda Prince