All my words - by
I imitated pitch perfectly, declined with
authority and wondered why people only
stared.
learning
‘We used to think the universe was made…’ - by
We used to think the universe was made
/ of tiny invisible pin-points of energy, jostling
/ and tumbling and buzzing together, and so,
/ by…
Learning to Stand - by
On the earth a stretched second
/ you stood, balanced. Gravity
/
/ glued dolly shoes. You wore
/ the sky on your head, jauntily,
/
/ light blue paper…
Poem for Myself on My Fiftieth Birthday - by
Never written a poem for yourself
/ have you, you daft old bugger? Well
/ here goes.
/
/ …
A Hauf-a-Croun o Devolutioun - by
‘Say efter me,’ said Rab, as he gied the waen
/ a hauf-croun muckle ‘s the muin i the middle air,
/ the siller…
Old Age - by
I have, I think, most organs that
/ I started with. Some shaped by time
/ foreshortened, elongated, dulled.
/ I keep at bay…
Weathering - by
In my father’s carved face, the bright eye
He sometimes would look out of, seeing a long way
through all the tree-rings of his history.
Digging - by
fallen in a heap
/ again
/ why do i keep
/ falling in a heap?
/
/ i got plaster
/ i got bricks
/ i got a…
X-Ray - by
Some prowl sea-beds, some hurtle to a star
/ and, mother, some obsessed turn over every stone
/ or open graves…
The First Kiss - by
What a disappointment. Nothing like the movies,
/ nothing like the mind. A mass of muscles writhing,
/ an awkward hand on a tightened…
Dividing Line - by
The blood / of the fish / becoming / the blood / of the bear.
The Fascination of What’s Difficult - by
The fascination of what’s difficult
/ Has dried the sap out of my veins, and rent
/ Spontaneous joy and natural…