A Party Like No Other Poem by Clive Culverhouse

The time was a quarter past half past to twelve
on the second from last day at the beginning of the month
in the year twenty-twenty-soon, and all was quietly loud.
The dancing had only just stopped after a night of sitting still
and food piled up on the empty tables.
Jugglers had danced telling their jokes and magicians sung
their impersonations. People mingled on their own while
loners chatted in small groups of large numbers.
The party was starting just how it had ended
and the guests were now arriving after clearing out slowly;
hangers-on and lingerers had been the first to leave
with late-comers having turned up too early
and many of the uninvited empty-handedly bearing gifts.
It had certainly been a night that day, a party like no other!