Hypervigilance

Poetry by Foy Timms

Beneath the sober geography of the night,

boy-men stalk a scavenger feast,

beyond civilisation and trust.

Spat into the world,

they kick and squirm,

wildly defensive in hubristic hemispheres.

These stick-thin micro alarm systems

grunt, scanning the streets,

a hypervigilant scrawl of youth.

They trample on hunchback daffodils,

extinguishing all blossoming life

under their slovenly feet.

The inkwell of maleness spills outwards,

flowing from within. They are

mistreating daylight again, elbowing their

recalcitrant loot into view,

against the leaden violence

of grey skies.

BIO: Foy Timms and I am based in Oxfordshire, U.K. I am attaching a single unpublished poem which fits with the 'bright lights, dark city' theme as it taps into the hypervigilance which can cast a shadow across urban living. The 'boy men' in the poem are casualties of a darker marginalised underbelly of city life. My Bio is as follows - Foy Timms is a poet and photographer, based in Oxfordshire, U.K. She is published in Abridged, Dust Poetry, Peeking Cat Poetry, Pulp Poets Press, Fevers of the Mind Poetry and Twist in Time, amongst others. She also works as a Charity Fundraiser. Her social media handles are as follows - Instagram - @foytimms, Threads - @foytimms and Blue Sky - foytimms.bsky.social.