Like two startled meerkats
sensing a predator’s approach –
the return of the king
from some battle, the arrival
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of his wayward, ‘inquisitive’ son –
hoping not to be chosen
these two female servants
take a deep breath
then stand so utterly still
that not only the moment
but the greater part of recorded history
passes them by,
all the ugly intentions of the world
muttering to themselves as they vanish
back into the night.
Pat Boran’s latest publication is A Man Is Only As Good: A Pocket Selected Poems (Orange Crate Books, 2017)