Florence Park

Cycling no-handed down the chestnut boulevard
(curved as exquisitely as any Georgian crescent)
out of nowhere
you ambush my mind
William Blake
you ambush my mind

and my heart explodes
like a bomb full of blossom

Ah! William Blake!

There you stand
stark bollock naked
dripping and glistening with glorious English drizzle
arms outstretched to the heavens
singing with an electricity
as ancient as the gilded hills

And a cocky Doberman with a bass clef tail
cocks his leg against the Eucalyptus tree

And two rooks waddle across the grass like pompous umpires
scanning the pitch for red-leather worms

And as the sergeant major robin inspects his sentinel yews
a beagle at the bandstand begins to howl the beagle blues

The beagle blues!
The beagle blues!
The beagle blues!

Yes!
William Blake!
All of God's creatures salute you