Tik, Johnnie! - by
Allah Dad and Hira Singh,
/ You and I fought for the King!
/ Hajal Moka, Suba Khan,
/ You stood with us, man to man…
resilience
The Legless Man - by
(The Dark Side)
/
/ My mind goes back to Fumin Wood, and how we stuck it out,
/ Eight days of hunger, thirst and…
This Life - by
Each life echoing, acting out these myths: / going into darkness, re-emerging, wounds / and griefs healed over.
/ …
Over the years - by
My mind’s gone all middling in the centre.
from vii. flock master - by
Three weeks: one field / a deluge / of births and deaths.
Snowdrops - by
Snowdrops are not innocent:
/ They fight for what they win.
/ Beauty’s what comes out:
/ Blind energy goes in.
/
/ …
‘The Black Belt’ - by
Gruff trams and trains criss-cross and intersect
/ With glittering steel this leprous countryside;
/ Pyramid slagheaps threaten, seamed and specked
/ With smouldering pink: a…
Beannacht / Blessing - by
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
Twenty-eight Weeks - by
We nearly missed her.
/ This little storm of life,
/ could have blown by
/ before we weathered her.
/ But here she is: sturdy,
/ definite, pointing her…
Recovery Room - by
The noise in the recovery room
/ Was half footfall and half hum
/
/ Like a well-mannered gallery
/ Of pictures that I could not see.
/
/ And…
The Guest House - by
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
In the Snack-bar - by
A cup capsizes along the formica,
/ slithering with a dull clatter.
/ A few heads turn in the crowded evening snack-bar.
/ An old man…