04-19-2016, 01:16 PM
Hanging around Babylon
The hospital rocks as a sudden gust
blows sand in the window, my eyes full of dust.
The sun beats hard from a sky without cloud.
I swear at the doctor, but never aloud.
Heat haze shimmers, horizon’s all gone.
My girl’s not on the same planet I’m on.
Ben from her office won’t leave her alone.
I just have to trust her. She hates his cologne.
Rick wears the same one. He may be gay
but he’s a Marine; I think he’s OK.
She sent me her knickers, I had them on when
the bomb exploded. The medics all grinned.
If my grandchildren ask why my leg is gone
I’ll tell them ‘from hanging in Babylon’.
after 'Roman Wall Blues' by W.H. Auden
The hospital rocks as a sudden gust
blows sand in the window, my eyes full of dust.
The sun beats hard from a sky without cloud.
I swear at the doctor, but never aloud.
Heat haze shimmers, horizon’s all gone.
My girl’s not on the same planet I’m on.
Ben from her office won’t leave her alone.
I just have to trust her. She hates his cologne.
Rick wears the same one. He may be gay
but he’s a Marine; I think he’s OK.
She sent me her knickers, I had them on when
the bomb exploded. The medics all grinned.
If my grandchildren ask why my leg is gone
I’ll tell them ‘from hanging in Babylon’.
after 'Roman Wall Blues' by W.H. Auden