"...to enclose the present moment; to make it stay; to fill it fuller and fuller, with the past, the present and the future, until it shone, whole, bright, deep with understanding."

Virgina Woolf, The Years


19.9.14

14.9.14

Gods demand (O Skin, be strong)

Gods demand we waltz
the teeming hedge
soldiers spread
but can’t quell
what wells

worthwhile’s a made shape
wafting about
in the night so green
all bright ornament
and creamy delay

I take off my hat
I get off and walk

O skin be strong
expand rewardable range
build steady wealth
of shared play
don’t end at lending
nouns to property

consult the ear
consult the air

claim common right
to lick up excess
as a lock’s for frisking
a gale’s gaping gate

they say the submarine
which waves no flag
is a violator vessel

how soft its coax
how smooth its thick white head

adorned and anointed
the bodies of my loves
the fear grins
of great apes

Alli Warren's There's always some bird dog, again, with one minor, significant change.



Source: Poetry (September 2014).