Beneath Our Lives

Kids playing, running in the street
Girls throwing bottles on the path
Horses in the field
Curtains opening
Lights turning off
Hanging washing drying on a balcony
Windows open, Cars drive
Everything happening beneath our lives

A church wedding
A procession of black cars
Swings in a playground, still.
A baby’s shoe hanging from a fence with a glove
A hand-scribbled sentence in a supermarket noticeboard
Looking for weekend help
Husbands walking in parks with their wives
Everything happening beneath our lives.

A screeching car
A motorcyclist 
Shaking his fist
A father feeding bread to the ducks and the swans
Someone photographing his dog
Jumping in the air
A balcony with a sunflower
Lettuce and some chives
Everything happening beneath our lives

The witness of the trees
Looking into windows
And birds on a windowsill going where the wind blows
A couple on a bench looking out the the lake
The houses Like gleaming teeth
The playing field quiet
Someone’s dinner bel l rung
Dishes that must be washed
Clothes that must be hung
And all around 
Silently
people toil and thrive
Everything is happening beneath our lives.