Poem Of The Week, Week 5: Gothic by Maureen Jivani

We have a thunderously powerful poem up next with Gothic by Maureen Jivani -

Gothic

We were chasing lovebirds when the hail arrived

in violet clouds that burst and scattered their icy

bullets over us. Back home with fever we watched

through blurred windows as Old World vultures tore

up the sky like unanswered prayers. For immediate

safety we hid under the stairs with perfect dolls inside

perfect homes in perfect form while at the end of its leash

our house raged and staggered on the edge of a cliff;

its foundations rocked; its walls cracked, its doors

remembered the axe. And split. Its rafters shivered

and shook, its roof thundered and wept until the whole

brickwork shrieked and finally whimpered tearing

itself into crumbling halves. Vultures and lovebirds

descended like fallen angels on the brokered tiles.