Runaway Art
by Cathy Park
A troop of springboks
has escaped
from Oppenheimer Park
Have you seen them?
They broke away
from their memorial tether
one promising spring morning
when the slow-warming sun smiled
even on the sleeping shreds of vagabonds
blurry faces turned up to the light
These wild creatures
were last seen
heading out the North gate
bronze flesh glinting
hooves exuberant on the stunned sidewalk
they headed east
beneath the spring-splendid oaks on Wolmarans
Have you seen them?
Have you sensed their untamed presence
in the long hours of the night
as you stare out onto the murky street below?
Have you heard faint hooves on cement
as the dawn grows
behind your closed curtains?
Have you noticed a cloven print
in the mud from the leaking sewer
outside your flat?
Have you caught a flash of fawn
disappearing round the corner
in the homeward-bound evening?
Will you accept their invitation
to wild spaces, sweeping land,
freedom
between the bricks and sidewalks
of the city?
A troop of springboks
has escaped
from Oppenheimer Park
Have you seen them?
They broke away
from their memorial tether
one promising spring morning
when the slow-warming sun smiled
even on the sleeping shreds of vagabonds
blurry faces turned up to the light
These wild creatures
were last seen
heading out the North gate
bronze flesh glinting
hooves exuberant on the stunned sidewalk
they headed east
beneath the spring-splendid oaks on Wolmarans
Have you seen them?
Have you sensed their untamed presence
in the long hours of the night
as you stare out onto the murky street below?
Have you heard faint hooves on cement
as the dawn grows
behind your closed curtains?
Have you noticed a cloven print
in the mud from the leaking sewer
outside your flat?
Have you caught a flash of fawn
disappearing round the corner
in the homeward-bound evening?
Will you accept their invitation
to wild spaces, sweeping land,
freedom
between the bricks and sidewalks
of the city?
