in the rain


all the lost pieces of her life
line the alleyway in Bercy:
a slot machine rocking horse, barrels of beer
square planters with shrubs

she shakes her head. this isn’t right.
above her, unholy clouds threaten
to let loose their wares.
a river of urine trickles past her feet and she turns
to see a man
oblivious

he walks away
leaving footprints

she wrinkles her nose, and follows him
under the arch
of a spray-painted loving cow
and a toad

a splot of paint on the pavement
makes an insect, wearing a bishop’s mitre
riding a rocking horse
without paying a penny
is this fair? no.

she re-treads her steps
down the Bercy alleyway
stopping beneath a poster
of naked people embracing each other
in the rain, in the pouring rain.



* Catherine Edmunds is a novelist, poet and artist. She says her literary style is encapsulated in the title of her poetry collection wormwood, earth and honey while her artwork veers between delicate portraiture, exploding dogs and decomposing toads.