The Stain by Jonathan Butcher

Those gargoyle extremities, that crawl 
not from bricks, but from the very streets
we assumed we had reclaimed. A falsehood
of triumph, that has now taken us fifteen steps
backwards, towards this wall.

Through roads and alleyways they storm,
but without thunder, words muttered through
shots, and that never seems to match a face. 
Their blended attire fades into one misplaced
flag that only ever reaches half mast.  

Slowly, one by one they finally disperse,
the place once occupied now freed from
the soiled shadows they cast, their voices
finally blunted, we can now feel space 
at arms length, without the risk of breaking 
fingers.

Jonathan Butcher was born and lives in Sheffield, England.
He has has had work appear in various print and online
publications, including Mad Swirl, Drunk Monkeys, The Morning Star, The Transnational, The Beatnik Cowboy, The Rye Whiskey Review and others. His Third chapbook 'Corroded Gardens' was published in 2019 by Fixator Press.