only we werent walking through trees
we were walking past buildings
we were walking through the busy streets of some city
some heartless cruel city
which had sprung up in the darkness
a city driven by a tyrant
a despot
an impostor
men appeared out of doorways
whistling at my sister
then as i watched kathy started to grow
i was still a boy
but kathy began to grow up
swarthy faces appeared grinning
a sailor spat in the gutter
an old man made a suggestive gesture with his fingers
no kathy i said please dont look
kathy was no longer listening to me
as i watched her breasts sprouted and grew
her clothes changed
her hair became lighter in some strange style
she wore high heeled shoes and carried a handbag
her lips were red
her eyes were huge and dark
no kathy i said…stop this!
she wasnt even listening
she couldnt even see me anymore in the hustle bustle
i pulled at her hand
i noticed her nails were painted a bright pink
she wore gaudy rings
kathy! i shouted
she turned to me slowly
as if she had great difficulty in seeing me
she looked down
oh kathy whats happened to you
she regarded me with some distant pity
go home now she said…this is no place for a childe
she let go of my hand
and she drifted away through the crowds
already talking to some gentlemen
in one minute she was gone
i was alone in this terrible place
where every face was hard or sad or angry
the people all pushed past me
wherever i stood i was in someones bloody way
the people cursed at me and each other
they mumbled and stumbled
they limped and struggled
they wandered mindless
madness was in the air
the people clutched their dirty cloaks
and shivered in their greatcoats
they smoked foul pipes and drank from metal cans
the women were all brassy artificial and frightening
the men were all cowardly misshapen and brutal
the few children as i saw were miserable wretches
hiding in shadows
running out to snatch up bits n pieces of refuse
this is bad magic i shouted out
no one heard me
no one cared what i thought
i looked in a window
row upon row of people sat
working away on screens
that flickered in front of them
i saw columns of numbers
i saw naked men and women doing unspeakable things
i saw pictures of buildings coming down in flames
mountains spewing fire into the sky
waves rolled down on towns
the wind and rain lashed out like tormented fiends
i saw men fighting and people cheering
i saw men arguing in a great room
i saw the usurper upon his throne
smiling kindly while his eyes were dead
i saw beasts devour each other
i saw a lioness eat her young
men spearing huge fishes that screamed in pain
a pack of men chasing a disc and battering each other
horses reared up throwing their black riders
things fell from the sky
the people kept touching the screens and the pictures changed
a grim looking man got up from his seat
he walked out the door
he said to me
pointing at his screen
go on boy
i have twenty minutes left on that
go on you can use it….!
i went in and sat down at the screen
i touched it
and it sprang to life
a black screen with white letters
the dark picture of a man playing a strange instrument
in greenish letters stood
BEING IN TIME
underneath that
a heading
expelled