for SECH
Clare would have called
these five red kites
circling above dead
or stag’s-headed oaks
like iambs broken from
a line of English pastoral
by a name that signifies
a deed without a name
by a call that only says
and you too soon
as they spin and entertain
us, then our chances
John Greening received a Cholmondeley award in 2008. His latest collections are Heath (Nine Arches, with Penelope Shuttle), To the War Poets (Carcanet), Knot (Worple) and Poetry Masterclass (Greenwich Exchange). His edition of Edmund Blunden appeared from OUP in Spring 2015 along with the classical music anthology Accompanied Voices.