Last night they came across the river and
Entered the city. Women were awake
With lights and food. They entertained the band,
Not asking what the men had come to take
Or what strange tongue they spoke
Or why they came so suddenly through the land.
Now in the morning all the town is filled
With stories of the swift and dark invasion;
The women say that not one stranger told
A reason for his coming. The intrusion
Was not for devastation:
Peace is apparent still on hearth and field.
Yet all the city is a haunted place.
Man meeting man speaks cautiously. Old friends
Close up the candid looks upon their face.
There is no warmth in hands accepting hands;
Each ponders, ‘Better hide myself in case
Those strangers have set up their homes in minds
I used to walk in. Better draw the blinds
Even if the strangers haunt in my own house’.
Elizabeth Jennings
(Elizabeth Jennings)
More Poetry from Elizabeth Jennings:
Elizabeth Jennings Poems based on Topics: Place, Cities, War & Peace, Mind, Man, Faces, Reasoning, Woman, Food, Morning- A Chorus (Elizabeth Jennings Poem)
- A Performance Of Henry V At Stratford-Upon-Avon (Elizabeth Jennings Poem)
- Absence (Elizabeth Jennings Poem)
- Friday (Elizabeth Jennings Poem)
- In Memory of Anyone Unknown to Me (Elizabeth Jennings Poem)
- Accepted (Elizabeth Jennings Poem)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Man Poems, Mind Poems, War & Peace Poems, Faces Poems, Place Poems, Morning Poems, Woman Poems, Cities Poems, Reasoning Poems, Food PoemsBased on Keywords: invasion, entertained, ponders, intrusion, jennings