776 | The last man

With our best wishes for the New Year
Germain Droogenbroodt and Stanley H. Barkan

Painting by Karthik Cherry, Hyderabad, India

The Last Man

after Mary Shelley

Comes barefoot

over shining

turf over

clover and grass

each shiny stem

and leaf white

with frost is it

morning it is

the first morning

comes walking

barefoot on grass

that bends and bends

under his feet

this is the rhythm

of prayer this

is how we always

knew it would be

bare feet in the bare

orchard

feet in ginnels

of the grass

is this how
it will be walking

through the frost

under bare trees

when you are alone?

Fiona Sampson, UK