Anth 74 Selected Poems

8/14/2019 Anth 74 Selected Poems

1/76

Selected poems: of appoximately 470 written more than 30 years ago. Some ofthese have been used and re-used in the anthologized writings and most were

distributed on a CD titled ALL THAT WAS, ALL THAT WILL BE. These are

collected here in alphabetical order by first line, not in order of writing.


2/76

a boywho grew up in a gardenmet a boy whogrew up in a factory

now there is a workshedin the gardenand the factory issurrounded by trees


3/76

a philosopherin a librarywas working on a thesisconcerning life and death

but his workwas interruptedwhen a book fell on his head


4/76

a veiled thoughta hidden depth in the glancethe reassuring smile

*kiss of betrayalkiss of complicity

*kiss of dishonour


5/76

all youfarmers and geographers

do not use the riverto mark the boundaries

of your land

build boatsand let the river carry youinto the deep deep sea


6/76

all your

strategems and plans

cannot give your children

sight

yet the black swan

on the wing

can smell the swamp

across the night


7/76

and suppose

that one old and very wise fishas he floated slowly, suspendedamong the caverns of his lifebreathing oxygen freely givenby the garden of moss and weeds,feeding on the bread that rained

like manna from his fishbowl skybecame aware, in the garden of his mindthat every trembling, every darting fishhowever small,left a ripple on his soul,and the garden that fed him freelyfreely took the food he gave,till suddenly he knew he was onlyone small linkin an everlasting chain

and then

with the glassy eye of agehe saw the handthat dropped the manna from the skies

what could he say tothe suffering and the blind?what could he say tothe dying and the dead?what could he say

to the boisterous school of fish he ruled?

I am old and cannot teach you how to danceI must do my rounds in the confines of the bowlthe dancer dances to a song we barely hear


8/76

and thenarose a mighty struggle

menwith their clocks and watchesdecidedto imprison time

better they had triedto chain a river down


9/76

as I lie on my bed

the chiming of the clock

reminds me

of the hooting of the owl at night

bird of night

take me

to your moonlit dreams

take me

in your glowing eye

to where the pale moon

guard my sleep


10/76


11/76

before jerusalemthe crowds had already been waiting for a long timeamong them were leperschildren deformed from birthand some who were inhabited by evil spirits

as jesus and the disciples came nearera centurion knelt downoffering to put his house and servants at their disposalbut said that he was a wealthy mannot worthy of their presence under his roof

the disciples were tiredfor they had not rested or eaten for three days

jesus turned aside and led themto the centurions house

the phariseeswho had watched carefully gathered togetherclaiming that he was a false prophetand began to plot his death


12/76

dont pray loudly

with impatience

as if the lord be deaf

in the mothers womb

the infants bones

grow silently


13/76

even now

the eagles are gathering

and

my friend

there is

a certain austere beauty

in the cruelty

of eagles

you

may not suspect

that in the depths of your soul

you toocan see that beauty

the spell

of a curved beak

the hidden depths of

a jewel eye

can trapeven you


14/76

here is a bird that has travelled

three quarters round the world

each year of its life

it is black

dying on the sea-shore

in a town of tourists

fretted with biscuits by children

ignored by fishermen

it cannot tell

and you might as well not ask

it is dying and that is enough


15/76

I am a sailor

in the eye

of a storm

and in this stillness

I listen


16/76

I am an angelI scream(angels are allowed to scream)I think thatI am pityI am sorrow

I listen(there is silence in screams)

I laugh(angels can laugh too)echoes of laughter

they agreethe definition of despair

is an angel


17/76

I clutchmy bottle of whiskeycloseagainst my chest

I dream of bootleggersI dream of moonshine

I seebottles bubblingin the quiet, moonlight

I build a little stillin a valleyby a river

I sleep


18/76


19/76


20/76

I tell my dentistthat he is wasting his time

drilling holes in teeth

all he finds is corruption and decay

how much better it would be

to drill neat round holes in peoples heads

lift out the grey matter

from the cranial cavity

and into each one insert

a queen bee and her mates

soon people would be walking around

with beehives in their heads

they would always go

to where the lovely flowers growand all their thoughts would be

sweeter than a honey bees

oh death

where is your sting?

in my head I hold a thousand bees

each with a mightier sting than thee


21/76

I thought I

saw a hawk

caught by the wind

falling with tangled wings

but my wife dreamt that I was

flapping my arms like chook wings

trying to fly

down the drive


22/76

I told my neighbourwho is a doctor

that I had just written

four poems about death

I suggested

that even if they lacked interest for him

from a literary point of view

he may find their subject

of professional interest

he said doctors

were more interested in life

than death

but isnt it true I smiledthat they know much more of death

than lets say the man in the street

for some obscure reason

I then rambled on

about traditional chinese medicine

where while a doctor kept a man healthy

he was paid for his services

but if the man sickened or diedthen he or his relatives

were paid by the doctor

anyway while I was rambling on like this

with my neighbour

the man in the street

was run over by a car

and really did get to know a lot about death


23/76

I wrote six poemsabout death

ranging from the facetious

to the dead serious

for awhile I behaved

as if I was an expert

on death

as if in my arms

I had long carried a dead child

through swamp and desert

forest and valley

till finally

after many yearsfollowing a winding river

and by now tired out with the burden

I reached a village by the sea

or perhaps more accurately

a tourist resort

there I laid the dead child

at his mothers feet

and as I looked at itI realized that it was no longer a child

but had grown into an old old man


24/76

if someone tells youhe knows all about the devils worksit may meanhe has been in thedevils pit

if he has been

inside the pithe will not have left

without a mark

if youlook into an abyssthe abyss will look

back into you

if youbattle with monsters be careful

you yourself dontbecome a monster

and sincethe prince of darknessoften wears a cloak of lightbeware the preacher

who is familiar with demons


25/76

if you can imagine a death

that swoops on you out of a blue sky

like an eagle

and if

in that last and frantic instant

deafened by the beating of wings

blinded

by a rush of blood

you glimpse the perfection

of a curved beak

the clear purity of a jewel eye

so that in the moment of death

you are stillwith the stillness at the core of beauty

then

perhaps you are ready

to dance to the seasons


26/76

Im sitting in a pubby a station in the countrygoing homegoing home

Ive just come back from the outbackwhere a black dog tried to root mein the nighta black black night

Im a lonesome randy black dogbetter be ready with your pants downall night longall night long

Ill root your arse and legs off

Ill root your eyes and ears offcause your my lovecause your my love

the train doesnt leave till 10 to 5and here Im waiting at 10.35

Im hard as a musclebut soft and gentle

just for youjust for you


27/76

in the city

jesus came by two blind men

the blind men heardfrom the noise of the crowdthat the prophet from nazareth was nearand one of them called out

lordyou can give back my sightand immediately he was cured

the other man listened to the crowd marvelat the power and charity of jesusand he said to himself

lordthy will be doneand he remained blind

and so it wasin every city


28/76

in the music

of your wounded hand

I tremble

like a bird


29/76

it has been brought to my noticeby a student of nature

that the portuguese-man-of-war

more commonly known to beachcombers as

the blue stinger

actually consists of five different creatures

which wander free through the oceans

till in response to some secret codenurtured over billions of years

in the inscrutable womb of evolution

come together in symbiotic affection

to find a singleness

of purpose and design

as a plague to all swimmers

and in my conceit

this has led me to consider that i too

may be a subject worthy of

scientific scrutiny

my refrigerator might be my stomach

the factories that process my foods

do the work of the digestive tract

the car is my means of locomotion

the state library is my memory

my conscience is my credit card

my sting

the nuclear bomb

i may look clumsy

but if you have a mind to trifle with

my ecology

beware


30/76

it is my earthmother of the poor

father to the wild

feel it breathe underfoot

tremble with subtle pain

slow heart of stone, dream of ages

forgetting, forgiving, hidden

it is deep

deeper than the sea

it has known everything and forgotten

many times

its tears are rain

its agony the sun

then there will be adead rain

a blind sun

in silence


31/76

it is the whooping

of cranes

and the magpies

fluted call

which attunes your ear

to a pitch of perfection

that on a spring morning

when the birds

gather in ecstatic chorus

you can hear

in the silence between the notes

the song

of the mute swan


32/76

it took a billion years

of drought and flood

earthquake cataclysm and strife

to form the intricate design

of the petrels skull and beak

found along the shore

you wonder if its possible

that so much terror and such brutal joy

should be expended in evolving

this one solitary bird

and yet

for just an instantin the history of his kind

the petrel

soared upon a shaft of air

to hold

entire kingdoms

in his eye


33/76

let me walk alongthe restless shores

the stingingoctopus

gives birth to fragile shipsof gleaming white

where from portugala man-of-war

trails his tentaclesthrough twilit worlds

some are made to dreamothers to explore


34/76

my unclewho lives in a little

almost unknown country

has acquired over fifty years

the best private collection of old manuscripts

in the whole place

when he dies

he would like to be processed if possible

into parchment

we his relatives

would file past sombre faced

and with old fashioned ink plumes in our hands

put our signatures

on his dried out form then one of us

would take that parchment and put it amongthe old scrolls and books in the library

lock the door

and throw away the key

forever

when I die

I want to be burned

so that once more I return

to the ashes from which I was madebut then I also want

those ashes to be put in a hole in the ground

and over them a tree planted

as the tree grows

its roots will draw nourishment

from the cinders

I will see and hear the world

through the eyes and ears of a tree

so it is

some have the peace to seek death

others seek to be reborn


35/76


36/76

my wife saidunless you take a good dose of sleeping pills tonight

you will kill yourself through

lack of sleep

I complained

that if I had taken my pills

on the previous night

I would not have written the four poems on death

which I did write

well she said youve got to

work our your priorities

is it so important to write poetry

that you run the risk of

killing yourself

I pointed out pedantically

that such a clear distinction

between poetry and death

could not be made

I said poetry is my life

or perhaps it is my form of dying

I write a lot of poetry about death

and with a note of drama in my voice:

after all

we are all dying in our different ways

I havent decided yet

which way to go


37/76

now Im going to demonstratehow to build a man

the framework is made

from petroleum extractive

light and strong

no tendency to go chalky as is the case with bone

nor is it brittle like fibre glass

and easy to mass- produce with available techniques

it must be assembled carefully

though specialist training is not required,

each part is numbered

a reasonably intelligent person

can put it together by following the code

a code-book is provided

joints are not a problem

as was the case with metal pins

we use flexible swivellersof polyestered wood

there is no corrosion

refinements to the transistor

and research on micro-circuits

has led to a kidney machine

smaller than a cigarette lighter

held to the spine by a powerful electro magnet

the aorta

digestive system

alimentary canal

are made from plastic reinforced with vegetable fibre

the colours

are purely for ease of identification

the wiring is highly sophisticated

with an allowance for error

short-circuits are eliminated by complete insulation

we do have a problem with the heartthough essentially a pump

present engineering has not produced a substance

which can expand and contract for a sustained period

without developing molecular fatigue

this is overcome by using the heart of a pig

an animal of similar weight to man

sexual organs are immeasurably superior

to anything our fathers dreamt of

university research has produced

a highly sensitised elasto-fibre


38/76


39/76

on a sheltered island

underneath some plastic palms

the parrots of utopia

dressed in vivid green

dance in groups

like clockwork toys

they nod their heads

and look so wise

that no one dares to criticize


40/76

once there was a wise man

because he had many treasureshe installed all kinds of locksalarms and electronic devicesbut burglars came and stole some of his riches

so the wise man appointedstrong and dutiful servants to guard his treasuresbut when the servants fell asleepa very clever cat thiefcame by night taking many possessions

finally after much thoughtthe wise man metthe cleverest thief he had ever known

and to him he gave all his treasures

now the wise man and the thiefoften sit togetherdiscussing wisdom and folly


41/76

one subject for conjecture

was an ageless man

who regularly passed through our town

against his chest

in a wire cage

suspended by a leather belt from his neck

was a small grey songbird

each time we asked about the caged bird

he would tell us

with a note of polite amusement in his voice

a different story :

that it was a travelling companion

and though it appeared to lack freedom

and he seemed to have it

there was an understanding between them

or that it was in memory

of a beautiful girl

to whom he swore to be true

but she left him

then again it was a treasured possession

of an old widow who took ill

she asked him to look after it

and it remained with him ever since

he said the bird reminded him of usthe cage was life,

however far he travelled

he knew to return

once he told us how in a huge city

he stopped under a bridge where two rivers met

a river of oil shone like the rainbow

the other was red with blood

he was the only one in that city

to wake to the morning song of a bird


42/76

our hearts are stoneour lovesandour dream an opalour spiritair

our search is food

we are rainwe are flowerswe are seed

we stared at the nighttill our skin turned black

we are night


43/76

perhaps life is a

decision

made by the elements of the earth

to dance

for a short season

the inanimate planet clothes itself

in a membrane of green

to provide

a stage for the dancer

the child of the silence of aeons

nurtured in the womb of stillness

assumes a human form

to dancenaked upon its parent earth


44/76

perhaps it is too pedanticto discuss

whether object causes motion

or the motion defines matter

is it the wind that shakes the branch

or has the branch given life to air

is the flower beautiful

or did perfection form the flower

can you see the dancer

or is the dancer hidden in the dance

does the dreamer dream

or has the dream possessed the man

did the flute produce the tune

or has the tune been waiting for the flute

I dont really care about the answers

but the spirits that I talk to

all claim in their conceited way

that it is they that speak to me


45/76

planting flowersmistbleeding hands

too clumsythe flowers dont grow


46/76

remembering that like wood

I am made mainly of carbon

when I die

process me into a piece of foolscap

and on it

write these words

here is a piece of paperwith nothing on it but

some foolish words

and if you multiply the words

by the number of lines

divide by the number of verses

and add one then you will

have a good definition of a fool

and if the cap fits wear it

by the way

the number is460


47/76

the doctorpulled out my wisdom tooth

and told me

Id be none the less wise for it.

furthermore, he said

my children will have no wisdom teeth at all :

the environment of modern man

leaves jaws insufficiently developed for wisdom teeth.nor will they be any less wise for the absence.

but I wonder

how carefully he looked inside my head;

perhaps there was nothing there

as wise as my wisdom tooth.

perhaps thats what he meant.

I am further confused by the suspicion

that without my wisdom tooth

I lack the wisdom to understand the situation.

even the nurse disturbed me

when she told me that the doctor

had his pulled out

long ago.


48/76

the king has dieddeserted in a distant land

inside his rib cagetwo crows dance

one that struts and strops his beak

saysI dance like thisto honour death

the othershuffles his wings and nods his head

I dance for youmy empty friend

to introduce you to the night


49/76

the local alley catone eyed prowler in the nightwas killed this eveningby the headlight of a car

with the silent instinctof generations of his kindhe writhed and cartwheeledinto a neighbours yard

to dieor to enter another oneof his nine lives

perhapsthe curtain of night has

been rentto admit him finally

into the paradiseof prowlers


50/76

the monkeys in the universiteedo not read my poetreelike the crackpot of the cityI am let to wander free

but in the corners of my mindI hatch a furious plot

I will build a giant bombto disintegrate the lot

so perhaps they have their wisdomlet me cackle to my tombthere are many reasonswhy I wither in my room


51/76

THE OLD LIBRARY

perhaps it is right thatthe custodians of this library

which is perfectly roundshould be inefficient

when it is transferredinto the new building

instead of the perfection of circlesthere will be glass rectangles

and the new custodiansof that new library willbe models of efficiency

andour most regular customers

from the derelicts homewho come here because there

is a touch of eternityin this room

will have nowhere to go

**

one reason whythe derelicts will not gointo the new library is

because it will be carpeted

they are used to hardand resonant floors

to them their footfallshave a hollow ring

they have grown used to that

**

another reasonwhy they like

to come to this libraryis because it is old


52/76

they have nocommunity of worship

in this world

but long long agosomewhere in the past

it was different

and so if we do providethem with a service

it is onlythat we rescue

the pastfrom the present

**

in the mirroron the dais at the centre

of the perfect circleof this roomyou can see

that the old man at the tableis no younger than the oldest bookthe boy on the excursion

feels the dust along the shelves

all pasts andall futures are

only reflectionsof the present

**

have you noticed how frailthe old men are

their hands are clumsy like thehands of children

the books that they read

are the books that children readbooks about warkings

and other lands


53/76

**and perhaps

some of these old menhave no future

just as some have hadno past

in this circular tower,a dead architects

imitation of a mystery that hecould only faintly glimpse,

these men guardthe eternal present

all others

must humbly waitoutside

**

buildings are hauntedby the souls of those who have used themthe alcoholic, the destitute & the agitated

come here to sleep

guarded by ghosts from the past

**


54/76

the other dayI metold father time himself

instead of wearing blackhe dressed in shimmering white

Ive always seenthe scythe beforebut never seenthe hour-glass

he tipped itback and forwards

like jewelsin a vase


55/76

the plover calls at night

to tell us that the night is life

and at night the fox comes out

to pluck the sleeping chicken

off its perch

as he trots towards his lair

bloodstained feathers sticking to his fur

he listens to the plovers call

he wont tell you what he knows

youcreatures of the light

listen

and be warned


56/76

the song of god is the

song of the mute swan

his body

is made of loneliness

his limbs

are made from pain

and yet

he has a human form

dressed in the rags of a beggar

he knocks on every door

blind and feeblehe holds out his hand for alms

look closely at that hand


57/76

the soul of a clerk

is made

of filing cabinets and

pigeon holes

one day he found

the cabinets were full

of birds

and they had nestlings

in the holes


58/76

their hot and bothered faces

cooled by

seaside spray

the tethered people

look towards

the distant boundaries of the sea

their tired minds

are filled with clamourous

seagulls

screeching overhead


59/76

there was

a man in the suburbs

who prayed that he be

a sailor

and his mind became

an oceanthe shimmering fishes were

its cells

then he knew that life was

governed

by the surging of the waves


60/76

they sayHitlers scientists discovered a cheap method

of making paper out of jews

on that paper

some good books were written

but they were anti-establishment

so Hitler had them burnt

it was

a-round-about way

of burning jews

however

the ashes were scattered in a fertile valley

and from them grew a great forestwhich Hitler ordered to be chopped down

and made into paper-backs

the paper-backs

consisted of progaganda

so Hitler forced all the german libraries

to keep it on their shelves

the americansbombed the libraries

turning them into heaps

of smoking rubble

and if there is a moral to this story

dont ask me what it is


61/76

they watch the white birds stoop through mist and spray

beautiful as a dream

it makes them think that

they are near the sea

they wait

to soak their withered hands

in salty water

once again


62/76

time waits for no manand no man waits for time

the best thing to do with clocksis to play with them

my local watchmaker says

he is too busy to read my poetrybecause he hasnt got the time


63/76

2mni

Ntrlir - ... 2mni blz; 2mni suevnerz, 2mni pnoekioez; 2mni Via Cavourz, 2mni Przr Garibaldiz, 2mniPorte Romane; 2mni jpsez bgn nchrch stps, 2mni indinz sln sunglrsz, 2mni blak mn sln h&bagz, 2mnitalin mn fingrn fliez. 2mni rnunsiaeshnz, asnshnz, kruesfkshnz, rzrkshnz.But nvr 2mni FONTANE (spshli liek th vecchie fonane nSiena & San Gimignano & th groetsk fontanen Prtsr Annunzirtr nFIRENZE) & nvr 2mni krnlz (but 2mni gondolerz & gondole).

Saluti da Venezia!


64/76

walking down a summer lane

you may not notice

the shadow of

the crow

flying overhead


65/76

what is the storm

which cast the soaring bird

down

to the dying earth

and whose the pain

that raised

the ageing hawk again

on pinioned wings into the air


66/76

when finallythe house hasbeen made clean and tidy

the devilgoes wandering arounddesert places

for forty daysand then he comes backwith seven otherdevils, each more powerfulthan himselfand finding the houseclean, he sayslet us enter here

on that daymake sure thatyou keep the windowof your intellect shutfor it is throughthis windowthat the biggest devil of allattempts to enter


67/76

when he saw that they had turned against himand were practising every kind of perversion

he sent an angel to punish the people

for six days

the angel strode through the land

pestilence in the left hand

a flaming sword in the right

till half the people broke out in boils and soresso that even little children were covered in pus

the other half he smote with the sword

so that the earth was awash with blood

on the seventh day

he saw that his bidding was done

and a voice echoed through the heavens

this is my body

this is my blood


68/76

when I layon my wifeher stomach heavedlike an ocean

and I wason the waves

knowing that lifecame from the sea


69/76

when simple simon met the piemanit was the pieman who was going to the fairsimple simon was on his way homefrom a psychiatric institution

as soon as the story about the incident leaked outthey promptly put him in again

anywaythe pieman made a lot of money at the fairand they both lived happily ever after


70/76

when the lord knocked on my doorI saidsorryI havent got the time

it is exactly twelvehe said

the last hourand I assure youmy watch is right

Im sorry sir I saidno disrespect intendedbut I mean Im busyIm in a hurry

dont worryhe saidit doesnt matterI have all the time in the world

take as much as you need


71/76

when the multitude had eatenhe was asked by one of the discipleswho would look after the peoplewhen he was gone

jesuswho had sought refuge by the lakesaw the crowd in the distanceand said

when I leavebrother will fall out against brotherson will disown fatherbread will become stoneeven the marriage winewill turn into vinegar

and yetif they are to enter the kingdom of my fatherthe restless will not find peaceand the starving will not be fed


72/76

when youre dead and buried

and at last

you think youve

found some peace

now that the

procession has gone home

and your funeral suit

is baggy with a loose

collection of your bones

you grin

at grieving solemn friends

calculating what

youve saved

you may not

think it so funny

when you see the ravenstrutting on your grave


73/76

with the pricemy hairdresser charges

I expect to get

a crewcuta shave

a vasectomyand a frontal lobotomy


74/76

writing an obituary

requires some talent

not everyone

has sufficient rapport with the dead

to be a professional

obituary writer

requires talent indeed

to be really good

you must be practically dead yourself

the only one

who can write an adequate obituary

for a dead obituary writer

is the owner of the funeral parlour

who having previously employedthe writer in a professional capacity

also sold him a life-insurance policy

which though it kept him poor

just covered the cost of his burial


75/76

you are a master of disguisesI slash through themas through so many sheets of tissueand I still dont see you

you have shuffled the deck so well thatking, queen, jack, jokeryou yourself dont know who you are


76/76

you whose lives aregoverned by the clock

remember that the swellingof the tideand the bleeding ofa womans womb

move to the rhythm of the moon

at nightthe farmers dog will howlin the citythe lunatic will dance

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Anth 74 Selected Poems