from Shhh

from Shhh

from Shhh

The counter intelligence community registers its disquiet 
too many of us now, too much getting out 
 
it’s an awkward day for dentists as the case drags on 
and no one much is smiling now, not the firemen 
 
nor the baggage handlers, nurses, first time buyers 
and since they changed the city boundaries and lowered the fares 
 
my taxi driver’s blue with rage, who never asked anyone to live in Celbridge 
or fucking Maynooth, but what it must be to sit back in the evening  
 
with your tooth repaired and your bags intact, watching  
the last of the light revive the carpet and know 
 
you’ve passed your five yearly vetting review, your grandparents 
haven’t let you down, your teenage son, your childhood friend 
 
haven’t spilled the beans, no-one has marched from the grave 
to rattle his bones and bloody the carpet, and you are whole again 
 
a re-trusted member of the counter intelligence community 
your swipe card unlocks the canteen again, knowledge swamps the room 
 
and you can cross the boundaries with your ear to the ground 
your eyes on the cockpit, your whole body  
 
as long as it lasts pressed to the pulse of the unquiet planet. Shhh!