The Dear Good Folk

[smokingboot]

Those days I told you to leave,
I never said, 'Take what you need,'
Because there was still time, I said;
'Take only what you love. The cats, your china.'
I didn't want you to see what I had seen,
what they would do to anything you loved
imagining your face when you found it.

You objected, for the dear good folk
 smiled daily, pleasant and rational.
You said nobody smashed doors and windows,
because decent people can hold different views
without, without , without...
You were still protesting at the station.
I waved goodbye, knife in sleeve.

There's purring from our windowsill,
The china's in the dresser
And you sleep softly in
our house, sweet as a carol.
Only my knife and I recall
And even we smile in the dark,
waiting for the dear good folk.