bats under the bridge

a broad vault but too low
to skirt its flowing floor
by weed-cramped margins
awareness of great weight
above the suspended stones

unhomely cut short shelter
damp through-draught echoes
a paradise of reverse
for night-bats that seek shadow
a shallow arch cavern-heavy

but dusk rising they flit
nervous circuits and crimp
by lamplight circumference
incarnate the jagged quests
their wings were leathered about

 

 

Martin Potter (https://martinpotterpoet.home.blog) is a British-Colombian poet and academic, based in Manchester, and his poems have appeared in AcumenThe French Literary ReviewEborakonInk Sweat & TearsThe Poetry VillageScintilla, and other journals. His pamphlet In the Particular was published by Eyewear in December, 2017.