Marilyn Humbert
Where Have All the People Gone
now the night is silent
except for the splutter of a distant truck
and scream of ambulance sirens
at the corner
traffic lights on long cycle
wind rushes down white line
unimpeded by workers heading home
litter pools in shop doorways
where homeless once slept
we meet in twos
behind closed doors, standing
regulation 1.5 metres apart
kids gamer thumbs flicking
TV force-feeds deaths tolls
and infection rate curves
re-runs of a police patrol
startled by a large red ‘roo
nibbling tender nature strip shoots
—Submitted on 04/04/2020
Marilyn Humbert‘s poems have appeared in FemAsia Magazine, Bluepepper, Eureka Street, Backstory, Other Terrain Journal, and other journals and anthologies. Humbert lives in Sydney, Australia.
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