You Can Hear the Screws Go In
You can hear the screws go in,
forcing a way through,
crushing resistance as they penetrate,
a few squeaks as they tighten up.
It’s safe now, locked down;
you’ve put the lid on it.
But listen:
Inside it still rattles.
Barry Gray lives in Bristol. A handful of his early poems appeared in the little “Underground” magazines of the early 1970s. He then wrote no poetry for about 25 years. His more recent poems have appeared in assorted publications and he has been long-listed in the National Poetry Competition.