CRANES

 Eye scan every horizon around and

I see cranes, cranes and cranes again.

Looming constructors of construction,

As the city goes on and on

Building itself by destruction and resurrection.

But, as an urban romantic,

Idealising and fantasising

About beautiful natural nature,

Out there somewhere,

I wish I could see

Beautiful long-legged birds

Dancing all around me,

Summoning emotions with their cries

As they flock across the skies.

Any feathered cranes would do;

Sandhill cranes, whooping cranes,

Japanese blue cranes,

Red crowned cranes and

Grey crowned cranes,

Even the misnamed common cranes.

But I see metal monsters instead,

Swivelling, raising and lowering vast limbs,

Blinking red hazard lights

Like evil eyes.

These are the cranes that inspired H.G.Wells

To imagine murderous martian monsters.

But these are human made and human controlled.

I might despise them

For spoiling my suburban skyline

But only hope that they could build

A way out of human destruction,

An escape from our self-made extinction,

And one day, maybe

Bring back the real cranes again.