amber

i dont even like repetition
but it has to be
amber-amber-amber-amber

amber is the colour of static
 the colour of limbo
 the colour of are-we-aren't-we
 the colour of urban decay
of pompei

it is a gormless light
dull like a mallet
stuffy like the back of a never ending childhood car journey
made to live with rubber and polystyrene
 a midnight street
 a lost highway


amber indicates that everything must slow down
 it is petrified resin
 stale liquor and varnish
 it is deep brass horns, rings and the growing middle age

even when it flashes
 in an electric vein
  between red and green
  between yellow and brown
it doesn't glint or sparkle
but throbs muggily, like the dull hypnotism of windscreen wipes