House of fiction, a new poem by Gerald Dawe

'…delayed daylight shining on the Muglins'
(Aidan Higgins 1927-2015)

Along Haigh Terrace
a drizzle of wind
and rain rattles
the loose windows upstairs.

Is that himself I see
squinting behind
the scrim curtains?
This is surely where he'd

spotted the people
heading to Carlisle Pier –
the belted suitcase,
the blue serge suit,

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the 'V'-neck gansey,
all in readiness for
Princess Maud's heave
through the Irish Sea,

nothing spectacular
but that last sight
of Scotsman's Bay
as she works her way free.