THAT VOICE FROM THE WORLD OF MEN

she pressed the buzzer
like a pearl button
on a giant's waistcoat


the building
seemed to step back
astounded at her nerve


the sound passing
through all the rooms
answering with a silence


more silent
than
before she rang


it was like being
in a Walter de la Mare
poem and equally


getting no reply
as he taxi ticked over
getting more and more expensive



"Tell them I came
and no one answered
that I kept my word!" she said



as if stepping into
the well worn lines
of the well loved poem



the living had not
been at home
but the ghosts were



they hid behind
the tatty chaise longue
and the Japanese screen



only then
the grandfather clock spoke
in its centuries old voice



which almost
frightened the ghosts
back to life



but she hadn't stopped
to hear
told the taxi driver



"Just drive
drive anywhere
it doesn't matter any more!"