It used to stand for Department of Police,
Public Domain not private grief.
Now PD means incurable disease,
to my mind no less a crime than murder.
Not a death sentence, the neuro said,
fingering his black cap with due solemnity.
I could have cried when later on,
I saw him laughing in the café with a friend,
though his grin fell through his chin
on spotting me, so that,
if anything, I felt bad for him.
Yes, his face dropped like a murderer
through the trap, as I stood there
without guide book, without map,
unmanned, undone, uncomforted,
detached,
gazing on a city-scape of ruins.
[first posted 3 Dec 2013]