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Sunday 24 June 2012

Shag


Shag
Wings open
To catch the prevailing wind
Lord of all he surveys

Lord of the waves
The sun, the crescent horizon
Lord, of the diminutive rock

On which he stands
Lord of the igneous intrusion
Further out at sea

This is the blue
These are the blues
Blues you are my colour

Thus he sits
Night to day
To keep the flock in order

To absorb the blue light
To infuse the blue energy
To turn his back on Prussia's blue

To rush through
Way ahead of the rest
A seer
A black-blue guide
A singular portrayer
Beyond the oceans cosmos



Listen to the poem for free on SoundCloud by cliking anywhere on this text

Saturday 23 June 2012

Take


Take in the air
The smell of the sea
The stench of seaweed
Beached by incoming tide

Take in the sound
The soft splash of leaves
The shriek of gull
Swooping for your ice-cream

Take in the view
The unhurried horizon
The tar splattered rocks
Of the environmental disaster

Take in the touch
The so submissive sand
The discarded broken bottle
That gashes your careless barefoot

Take in the taste
The neeps & tatties
The stale steak and ale pie
Left on the squalid pantry shelf





Listen to the poem for free on SoundCloud by cliking anywhere on this text

Friday 22 June 2012

HD Day One


How does he do that I ask

I don't tell everyone but this is a sunken shape, coloured with non-reflective pigment says the gallery guide

I go on to ask about the transparent cube?

I can't actually say much about that, Anish is till secretive about some of what makes his fortune

We are outside now, into the industrial landscape, to see art that makes a statement; did I even hear someone say ‘he is the beginning of our fresh shoots of recovery’

Almost impossible to photograph, in isolated entirety at any rate; I am though affected; first physically, from the distance of the footbridge

I feel to be being drawn inwards, as though the wire shape invokes the effects of a fairground vortex
Back on terra-firma my consciousness marvels at their ideas, commends the fine technical skill

We continue our journey onwards, propelled across the river; our first time on a transporter bridge, further impressed we travel up the coastal route, past the tall ships; sails at rest to the backdrop of boarded up terraced houses

We pass edge of town shops, securely shuttered, travel on to a solitary column of rock off the cliffs edge where we take photographs, before checking-in to our 4 star hotel

After a couple of beers, in a pub full of hen-parties we have lamb biryani with aubergine on the side, followed later by a stroll along a quiet promenade
We are in search of the nights invisible starlit moon




Listen to the poem for free on SoundCloud by cliking anywhere on this text

Thursday 21 June 2012

At Table


The straight glass cylinder
Leans over, ever so slightly

As a younger man I might
Have had the certainty
The arrogance to tell you
By how many degrees

But for now let me say
Less than one or two
At least insufficient
To raise any concern

The tube sits on top of a vessel
A voluminous crystal container
For oil or paraffin, or whatever
Would cause the wick to flame

Between the vessel and the tube
There is a mechanical contraption
A geared disk, for the butler
To raise or lower the light

This controlled illumination, with fine adjustment
Is placed at the master, or his guests convenience
There to set the ambiance for their lusts fulfilment
& the more exotic forms of demonic debauchery

Today the whole device is stilled
It as been drained, washed, cared for
It sparkles clean; but it is without use
Other than to fix this writers eye


Listen to the poem for free on SoundCloud by cliking anywhere on this text

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Back when you’ve gone away


What did you say
About downtown
On Saturday
Would you so play

There on the bank
The brink of fair happiness
Dressed in mink
She winks and walks on by

Hey now they say
She'll be back
Wait for time to take
The rough cuts… the malady


This poem is from the collection East of Lincoln Central available now on kindle - click on the text for details