Bryan Murphy- A Poem

Murals

José Clemente Orozco sucks out my brain,

splatters it across the orphanage ceiling

while my body lies flat on a bench below,

dislocated by jet-lag and head-cold,

transfixed by the multi-hued knowledge

on the human-stained walls:

pink credulity,

vermillion cruelty,

ochre refusal to learn,

fawn readiness to follow,

colour-blind surrender

to any higher power

that grants the right to kill.

Blue blood sweats from the cross

fresco’d King Philip hugs to his groin,

anointing a troop of guided tourists

who have eyes for each other alone.

Bryan Murphy is a former teacher and translator who divides his time between England, Italy and the wider world. His work has recently appeared in The Camel Saloon, Eunoia Review, Indigo Rising, The Pygmy Giant, Rose & Thorn and The Rainbow Rose. A volume of his short stories,  "Goodbye Padania", is forthcoming.