on the AVE, Toledo to Madrid

Fields blanched by frost. Sun a slow-falling
Twopenny piece. Clumps of fat-bellied trees,
Apeing overfed peasants. Half-built suburbs in
Skeletal ascendant. Fields pitted with white rock.
Stunted warehouses. Freshly-tarmaced roads
Brought to a Caesarian halt by rail tracks.
Monuments to old gods. Strutting pylons, proud
As punch. Sky catching hell-fire. City walls.


29.11.05