Poem: Abertawe

Abertawe is the Welsh name for the city of Swansea, and being in the city inspired some poetry in me. 



Misty air soft against the skin
A lover's nuzzle in the evening grey
Impossibly ancient, the earth murmurs
Nothing is quiet here.
At five the locals lock down
Close up shop, batten the hatches
As if bracing for a mighty storm
That I am too fresh
And too blatantly American
To sense rolling in from the sea
Their language is like their weather
Soft and strange, it settles wetly in the lungs
And at the back of the throat.
And wraps the inhabitants
Of Abertawe
In the murky, familiar embrace
That settles round me now
Elliot's yellow cat perches on my shoulder
And follows my shadow
Through dusky streets