Bruce Hodder

In Portsmouth

In Portsmouth

a statue

of Charles Dickens

reclines

beside a stack

of books,

his frock coat

billowing

like Batman’s cape.

Nearby, on

the town hall

steps,

a boy wrapped

in a greasy coat

lies still,

his bottle

empty.

Tourists pose

for pictures

by the

Dark Knight,

shun the boy

Bruce Hodder lives in Northampton, England. He has been published widely, most notably in Bryn Fortey’s Outlaw magazine and Norbert Blei’s Other Voices poetry anthology. He is the former editor of the Beatnik and New Beatnik websites.