Obstinate Hedonist
You pretended to be scared
to fall in a puddle of motor oil
that distorted the innocuous sky,
you snapped at young birds and
leered at the barrels of obsolete rifles.
You wrapped the rifles
in a blanket that was embroidered
with heraldic dragons pierced in the flanks
by the lances of surly Flemish knights
and then fatherly tucked them in the trunk.
We drove forth and
sometimes back to study roadkill
I tried to resuscitate a rabbit
it had my neighbour's eyes
sly but compassionate
condemmed to death
its glee hard to grasp.
At the inn we were served
by a ruddy man with a missing index finger
he looked like he'd just gambled away
his house with his wife and kids still in it.
