Pale Shades

Note to the reader: this is not a poem

The pictures are falling from my walls
because the paint is too heavy.
Illusionary landscapes are real landscapes now.

No need for tonality or warmth of colour.
Now I write another poem that nobody will read.
There is loneliness in these words

I tell you the supposed reader in plain terms.
There is no need to hide behind poetry
I won't try to be clever with you.

Helen Ivory
Staying Alive ed. Neil Astley

*****

My husband tells me that the football is on,
that I must come and watch;
but I am too busy,
I am photographing roses
in the last of the evening light.