Probe step by step
Build a structure
Keep back the incendiary devices
Talk quietly about risk
Use that fucking-word poetics
For what purpose
Why to stand aside
In that place I didn’t intend to be
Where immaturity, indifference
And need
All catch me out
Do not be afraid to step outside
Go to that quieter place
Find another way
To receive advice
Write about your mother
Or a lover
Or anyone else you totally know
Or at least might have truly known
Happenstance in Heptonstall
Poems Started at Lumb Bank
Arvon 2018