Flag Waving

Look up to offices,
jubilee bunting sun-worn.
One down, two across
empty coat hangers shoulder
long weekend expectations.

*

In riverbank weeds
a suntanned man pops up –
Jack-in-the-Box –
plucking reeds like javelins
his underarms are swan white.

*

Flags of many nations
hang from riverbank trimming.
The ‘Butcher’s Apron’
taken in the Don’s current,
under bridge, will it ever rinse?

*

I stand above keystone,
a duck swoops under arc
playing a nutmeg
through the legs of a goalie
and I consider the score.

*

Go-kart exhausts pop.
This afternoon hearts pump
these grown men to lap
each other in figures of eight –
Monday they’ll consider stocks.