As the long, lavish day expires,
a streetlamp stammers
against encroaching gloom.
The chill wind
slices through all confidence,
drives the day’s news along an empty street
into shadows thronged by phantoms.
A concrete wall, graffitied with fear
obstructs the feeble light
intensifies the dark.
For these uneasy hours
sanity is eclipsed, optimism blinded
in the baneful threat of night.
— Christine Rigden