The Oak Lane Inn (Part Two)

No one at home when I tapped at the window
He's deaf in the parlour but I didn't know then
How he was framed by the shutters, the rafters, the blinds
Fallen by flowers within the Oak Lane Inn

Next door, the Simmons woman with her cat nailed to the hearth
Was spinning silences for wicca basketry
Cod-peering through her arachnid netting
But the smell of soup out back will not signal return

At the waterfront the folks have airs
And heirs to fine estates
They will not talk with the good boatmen
Nor swing down at the gate

09:39:30 June 3 1994