It’s hard to be subtle

when you dangle

from a streetlamp

swinging arc

interrupting life’s ordinary

passersby stare

not because they care

but because they see

gravity

while pigeons pause mid-coo

absurdity

try to look casual

as though hanging upside down

in a Market Square

is part of a fitness regime

or an art installation

But teenagers on a bikes

laugh so hard they crash

while shopping trolley women

shake heads in disapproval

at assaulted street-lamps

blood rushes to your head

and so do questions

what life choices brought you here

was it a surfeit of tequila

a dare stupidly taken

a future ex you want to impress

someone with a phone

is filming

and soon

you’ll be a meme

_“Lamp Guy, 2024”_

consider letting go

embracing a fall

but the ground

is far enough

for more than broken pride

so you dangle

suspended humility,

realised impossibility

of invisibility

hung upside down.