The Front Window Poem by Rae Desmond Jones

it is raining softly
as an old Greek woman
dressed in black walks
along the path with
a big brown paper parcel
the spray tapers on
the roof opposite like Durer’s
hands & i know if i take a rubber
i can obliterate the world
the old woman looks at me
& her face is folded & cracked
& her eyes are small
I take the rubber
& she looks down as she
begins to disappear
because she is heavy i rub harder
& she becomes gradually faint
& weak
She drops the parcel &
It splits on the wet ground
& sets loose a swarm of angry
bees
their tails are fat &
they beat against the glass & live
although i rub them out one by one
they are a plague