Peter Friend: ‘Regent honeyeaters’ and ‘Street cams’

Regent honeyeaters

In the wild
they are almost
almost gone,
gone are the flocks
that were yellow as the sun,
but the zoo is breeding them
back again,
a few at a time,
a few at a time,
before the hourglass
runs out of sand,
and they’re setting them free
in the forests again,
a few at a time,
as the time flies by.

Peter Friend

Street cams

Above the shops, upon a pole,
I saw the glint of half an eye.
I watched it blink, then swiftly roll,
as I passed quickly by.

Beneath the streets, another eye
was peering from the subway wall,
and there were more, as I rushed by;
I couldn’t count them all!

I thought: “What do you want with me,
O city with a thousand eyes!
When I rush by, what do you see?
Must I find some disguise?”

There was no answer—just a roll,
the silent blink of one more eye.
I caught it glaring from its pole!
as I passed quickly by.

Peter Friend