Erasmus Wept

When Erasmus wept
We made our excuses and left
The room, then came back
One by one to ask:
Are you okay?
Would you like to talk about it?
Come on, mate – you’ll be all right.
Back slap
Back slap
Beating the warm carpet of his ego.

Tears did not suit him.
When Erasmus wept
Atlantis rose juddering from the ocean
All glass pyramids
And weed-hatted columns
Yet he went on sobbing
Snot hanging from his nose and chin
Like a beard of glue.

He once punched through a fishtank.
When Erasmus wept
A golfer took a bolt
From a clear sky
And lived, stood up
And finished three under
But Erasmus doesn’t wonder
At these petty miracles.

He flinches at miracles.
When Erasmus wept
We collected his tears in egg cups
And encouraged sparrows to drink.
Weeks later we would see flocks
Double-helixing through the sky
Chasing police helicopters.