Noises from underground made gibber some

others collected & dug henry up

saying ‘You are a sight.’

Chilly, he muttered for a double rum

waving the mikes away, putting a stop

to rumors, pushing his fright

off with the now accumulated taxes

accustomed in his way to solitude

and no bills.

Wives came forward, claiming a new Axis,

fearful for their insurance, though, now, glued

to disencumbered Henry’s many ills.

A fortnight, sense a single man

upon the trampled scene at 2 a.m.

insomnia-plagued, with a shovel

digging like mad, Lazarus with a plan

to get his own back, a plan, a stratagem

no newsman will unravel.