TOWARDS DARKNESS
to Vittorio Sereni

Through suburbs, flooded meadows
beyond Milan the train curves
at dusk; caught in carriage windows
a red sun bobs above telephone cables:
one of those nervous dots
that settled an instant on syllables
as we sang at the minors' matinées,
watching in a partial darkness
usherettes with ice cream trays
aim torches at the sweets and coin;
my father's and grandfather's wars
played out - I refought them
in imagination and the overrun
vicarage garden, grown aware
...