A Lone Magpie Poem by Stephen Gradwell

And I pressed my head against the window so I felt like a prisoner,
And stared willingly out at the drenched paradise that was peoples prides.
But one smelt of neglect and abuse and that was the one I identified with,
Wondering how on a day where I needed it most, nature wanted nothing to do with me.

And I thought about opening the window but decided against it,
I rested my head on the window sill, till the radiating heat made me feel sickly,
And I stared at the retreating birds and the owners closing their doors,
And I wondered why such finalness felt so relevant to me.

And the sun and rainbow had filled the adjacent brick work with a worthy glow,
That nobody but me wanted anything to do with,
So I turned back from haven to a dimly lit room with a whirr of technology,
Finding nobody to talk to and nothing I wanted to do.

I looked at my rack of redundant DVD's,
A console or two gathering dust,
I looked hard for something, anything to lay my trust,
But even music tainted this evening.

So what could I do in lonely isolation,
Except force myself into self humiliation?
And I assure you the lone magpie that caught my eye as a closed the curtains,
Didn't care one bit.