Guest Poems

Granada I recall it life-sized, to my left, beside the altar:Isabella’s royal foot treads on an Arab neck,triumph of Los Reyes Catolicos.The man’s eyes howling. That was the week of Abu Ghraib. A tv in my roomshowed the US soldier’s equal triumph,trampling her...

Nothing Happens I sit in the darkness of the stallsawaiting a momentous eventthat never occurs, as if the actiontook place in the green room;the actors emerged exhaustedby the effort of dressing and makeup,too tired to propel the plot. I sharethe idlers’ ennui as they...

Grocery Store Tulips Bought on a whim, pale petals shutlike seashells slow to open, waiting to soakin the weak light that streaks through the window. My cat unbothered, too old to be curious, the tipof her tail a calligraphy brush dipped in ink.I serve her daily meds,...

Green We head for the green-shotin its glass syringe. You’ll find a flood of cloudsdebating earth fall. From their great heightour garden is one rainbow flower. They debate which of our bushes will receivetheir blessing and which to leave. And when we come home, our...

Whale Watching This seascape, with its deep shades of ultramarine,bluer than Muddy Waters, is as uncannyas the landscape we are leaving behind, chuggingout of Reykjavik in high summer with our talkof that Great American Novel, Ahab and his quest,so much madder than...

Unpacking a Bomb Articles for the Blind    wrapped securely as a bomblike Dad     impossible to open                Dad’s…    his presentscontaining surprise practical mug:    King Charles...

That Tremendous Fish after Elizabeth Bishop So, I let the fish go, but it did not swim away,remaining instead port-side of the hired boat,right eye staring unblinking into my startled gaze. I raised the revs on the motor but it stalked me.The bows pushed harder...

Du Lac My lover was born under a wet star.He is not my first, but he is my favourite.The waters of the lake hold the shape of my body in their silt.I found him at the water’s edge,blurring into the shallows like a mirage.His hands slid over my shouldersand droplets...

Last Inhabitant Left on Earth Give me one place only –one area the size of Americatoo large to fathom where I willmake myself known asking formore space a fortress where tobuild upon and declaring myselfto you without animosity. What’s left on earth notlooking...

The Poisoner’s Poison Sleep has led me one step to the leftof lead.A periodic transition to thallium:softer certainly,like freezer bread thawing. But there’s still no stretch inside thisgrey,tasteless,odourless shape. Though they say sometimeswe live in secrets -that...

On Hearing of the Death of Benjamin Zephaniah 7.12.2023 Because they told me in the neutral grey of an ordinary day when the      sun neither shone nor     set,when the rain could do no more than drizzle, when all I was doing   ...

The Ground of our Music Now the warm moist air is alive with voices.Frogs are singing. Soft introspective crooningmakes the mild night throb with erotic feeling.Somewhere above them owls are calling, female to male; hauntingbreeze-blown signals float between houses....

Partition i.m. Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), mathematician Don’t be afraid. Like the first brushstrokeof the Mona Lisa, it begins simply enough. The partition of three is three,the partition of four is five. Meaning, you can arrive at three in threedifferent ways...

Twine Lazing on the tablestrung out with a casual loopit could be someone’s noosethe knot ready to slip tighteraround a waiting neck                                    ...

Abandoned When the A-Road Was Built How do you find St David’s church?You must search. It is here, but lies abandoned?Look beyond. I see towns, the heavy traffic.Take your pick. Its loneliness makes my heart sick.All progress has its consequence.And our children’s...