Passage through Icebergs
(Painted as Voyage to Labrador by Alfred Wallis, 1935-6) Pinnacles accompany steady Course, the odd dry-docked Whiteness with its…
The Selkie
Her face like a river-beaten stone on the day she rolled from the city of white walls, and pebbly…
Dawn
On steel earth and dog heat The dogs wept. Not silence. Not even the silence of the cage After…
Matisse and the Dancer
Eternal female, colour constructed in yellow armchair, fully relaxed, contours voluptuous, pattern Islamic, gazing at silhouette leaves on a…
On the Astrolabe as Described by the Science of Astronomy
Translated by Ghayth Armanazi The most precious companion of those of noble breed; Do not therefore be without, whether…
Passchendaele
Hard to imagine, as the coaches roll Along small unimportant roads through fens Blotted by bungalows and ugly sheds…
At Saint Christopher’s Hospice
You lie bald-headed on a white pillow, small hands weaving our tangled world together. And how your calmness calms…
In the Cinema Lobby
1. I was standing in the lobby of my mind on the tiled floor beneath the colonnade, the marble, the…
Chemin de Fer
Casinos from Kowloon to Baden-Baden Serve our breakfast on a silver griddle – We who prop by night the gaming…
Green Wine
He tempts her with Portugal in spring – I can’t, she says, not having stayed before in a hotel with…
Keeping Time
There’s an edgy scent of winter in the air, of chrysanthemums, azaleas, wood-smoke, frost. Music flows through the drawing-room and…
The Patron Saints of Poets
Columba 521-597 Brigid 453-523 Cecilia, martyred 117 David 1085-1015 BC Only these four are placed to catch our prayers to…
Dowsing
‘A dowser is a poet’ you thought, leaning on the farm gate to find the way. But maps have never…
A Postcard from Ireland
‘Picture-poem’, 1966 oil and collage on board 8’ x 4’ ‘Picture-poem’, 1966 oil and collage on board 8’ x…
Ronan
Do not compare me to him For I live in his glowing shadow The now mist of his sway…
In Sant Joan Baptista
For Fernandito Our early morning chat on your cool terrace explained the little grunting noise you often make, as…
Formentera
For Anna Roy Among the island’s first visitors after the war, you landed, innocently, with two volumes of Lorca…
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