*
Down the dark stairwell, a silent progress plotted.
‘Twas death in that house were Tom but spotted.
…He reached the door, a tree-clad Owl hooted.
Three seconds more and Tom was Seven League Booted.
One stride it took to clear that grim ravine.
By the dimly waking watchers, Tom was never seen.
A toe hold caught the receding lip of night.
Poor Tom was spilled out and tumbled into flight…
*
In the glow far, far below…
A high, keening Kite.
*
*Tom Banjo is a character who appears in the Grateful Dead song entitled ‘Mountains of the Moon’. About two-thirds the way through the song, and upon hearing of the Marsh King’s daughter, Tom mysteriously disappears…
