ENGLISH NINJA

I was a teenage ninja

That did knuckle press ups

And got pummeled in his stomach

It was like home

But with dad in the pub

I quietly climbed ropes

To strangle imaginary targets

Once I chased the sensei

Through darkened woods

All senses primed by the night

Throwing stars by moonlight

Then owled in a tree

Moments slowed and watched

I saw everything

The violent night clear to me

The ridiculous ongoing hunt of men

The wasting of all time

And the spending of passion

Oh to concentrate on a wing’s beat

To hear seconds fly

To be within nothing

And without