The Listeners - by
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
/ Knocking on the moonlit door;
/ And his horse in…
night
Haunted Houses - by
All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.
To the Moon - by
Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth?
Myeloma Moths - by
The moths came with a soft flutter one night and burrowed intothe deepest recesses of cloth. Their offspring had their fill, gnawedthe wool and cashmere mix of a coatframed by a hanger, shaped like you. They punched out holes, some like starswhich didn’t shine, coalesced into craters.Silver dust littered the wardrobe carpet. They were driven […]
Healings 2 - by
At midnight the north sky is blues and greys, with a thin fissure of citrine just above the horizon. It’s light when you wake, regardless of the hour. At 2 or 4 or 6am, you breathe light into your body. A rose, a briar rose. A wild rose and its thorned stem. What did Burns […]
Diwali, Manchester 2001 - by
I think of windows as I think of caves…
Rounders in the Dark - by
The circle shrinks
/ as players one by one
/ are summoned by a shout;
/ till in the gloaming none remains
/ to catch the…
The night is darkening round me - by
The night is darkening round me,
/ The wild winds coldly blow;
/ But a tyrant spell has bound me,
/ And I cannot, cannot go.
/
/ The…
Ho! for the blades of Harden - by
Ho! for the blades of Harden!
/ Ho! for the driven kye!
/ The broken gate and the lances’ hate
/ …
The Raiders - by
Last night a wind from Lammermoor came roaring up the glen
/ With the tramp of trooping horses and the laugh of…
Sainless - by
I hae stuid an hour o the lown midsimmer nicht
/ til twal o the knock i the leelang glamarie-licht
/ by…
The Three - by
In the depth of winter
/ In the dark of night
/ There was only one house,
/ Only one light.
/
/ I walked down the…