Robot on Parquet
He watched them dance
from a fold up chair,
rigid Tin Man in a sports hall
trying not to stare too hard
at swans that bobbed
and arced through air
in sudden flux and fletch
to skim across the polished floor
towards where he sat
a no-fly zone for bluebirds
and associated optical phenomena.
Shadwell Smith is a teacher by day and a poet by night. His poems have previously appeared in Snakeskin, Ink, Sweat and Tears, London Grip, Prole and Message in a Bottle. He also has a 25 yards swimming certificate.