Year 999

Year 999 - not an emergency, just the norm.
No dome for a family outing, no London Eye
To ride for a day, no burning River of Fire
To thrill their imagination.

Just the warble of birds in reeds on Greenwich Reach,
A view of the Abbey across the marshes
Of Thornea Island, where tonsured
Acolytes intone dark prophecies of Armaggedon
Hades and the River of Fire, Phlegethon
To chill their souls.


Richard Skelton