Steve Shepherd: a poem

what talking was

the lights dipped three times that winter afternoon

and with darkness falling outside

we looked to the fittings.

somewhere in sully

boys were burning down a substation

and eventually their flames brought the dark inside

so with candles and an open fire of our own

we talked to the kids about the power cuts when we were small

before mobiles and computers changed what talking was.

Steve Shepherd writes poems and takes photographs. He used to make radio programmes, mostly jazz.