City Lullabye Poem by Josephine Dunn

You are the sounds of the city,
The sirens sing a morning symphony
As we lie down, not to sleep
But to entwine ourselves in languid lovemaking,
Continuing the dance of the night before
Barely ended as dawn broke over the rooftops.
Magpies and pigeons compete in cacophony,
The baby next-door wakes, cries and is shushed
By diligent parents, their hushed tones
More intrusive than the infant’s demands
For nourishment which echo our own passionate
Demands for fulfilment.

You stir behind me aroused
Only by my being there, near, still,
The dance ritual observed last night,
Our courtship, not named or owned but
Stamped out with relentless beats,
Your feet pounding, mine stepping
Into each footprint as you leave it,
Whirling like dervishes,
A choreographed fight sequence without
Bearing arms, without bearing intentions,
My gaze, catching yours, your energy,
Matching mine, keeping time, timeless.

Knowing, not knowing we will lie
Together in the grey half-light and observe
Our particular, peculiar Sunday worship,
Your body, my body, the body of Christ,
Sacramental host, closer than close.
Later, you turn me to you and we
Consent to consummate while sirens sing
Their early morning victims to safety,
Conjoined so there is no you and no me
Only a unity of body and soul.
I talk to God while you sanctify silence and,
The city’s lullabye sends us to sleep.


Copyright - Josephine Dunn - 20th January 2010