Night-time

I stand by the quiet canal,

Dug out by humans hands,

Under the eerie street-lamps,

Devised by human minds.

In the water dance the orange lights.

In the distance roar the cars, constant as the sea.

In the night, the tower-blocks light up:

Illuminated stairwells mark them out,

For concrete blends with sky,

And flats – who’s up this late?! – out-shine the stars.

Behind me steals a stealthy night-time ghost.

He shivers up my spine: as if to say

The world of Newton, Marx, and Einstein he will share

Until the dawn – and while I stay awake.