From a Suburban Window by Dannie Abse

Such afternoon glooms, such cloud chimneys low.
London, the clouds want to move but can not,
London, the clouds want to rain but can not.
Such negatives of a featureless day:
the street empty but for a van passing,
an afternoon smudged by old afternoons.
Soon, beyond railings, evening will come,
from a great distance, trailing evenings.
Meantime, unemployed sadness loiters here.

Quite suddenly, six mourners appear:
a couple together, then three stout men,
then one more, lagging behind, bare-headed.
Not one of the six looks up at the sky,
and not one of them touches the railings
They walk on and on remembering days
yet seem content.  They employ the décor,
they use this grey inch of eternity,
and the afternoon, so praised, grows distinct.

From: http://www.unz.org/Pub/Encounter-1963sep-00018

Date: 1963

By: Dannie Abse (1923- )