Things That Can Be Thrown

Voices from a stage. Knives
at girls spreadeagled on boards.

Champagne against an ocean-going hull.
A cap above a surge

of heads. An opportunity
away. A pitcher on a potter’s wheel.

A spanner into the works.
A first draft into the bin. Caution

to the wind. A lasso into air
to tame the wild. A wild card

into play. A lifeline.
A javelin to the far end of a pitch.

Confetti. A fist of silver
from a car. The trap below a sentenced man.

A coat around the shoulders
of the last one out the door. A plate

against a wall. Fire
towards the enemy. Hands up in dismay,

or higher, in surrender. A ring
into the sea. All of it, away.

(published in Gutter issue 19, May 2019)