stars hollow out
a night’s thought a remarkable
resistance occurs
tubes of air are force-fed
into your mouth
you’re more of a conundrum an itch
under the eyelid
picking up parcels of summer heat the sun
white-washes couples hugging their lawns an intimacy
is stepping over one another mouths gaping
at the heads of lovers impaled on flashes of sunlight
a house pays the price for sleeping in
after the summer squall
a sundial
warms to your hands & you stroke
its blade stroke the slide of rain
on bruised roman numerals
you push your shadow
into the scar of an old keyhole
i go with girls
ripped open by the moon they live
for renewal fresh-faced precocious
clicked & stamped
& cleared for frivolity
the girls run red along wet streets
where idols hang like half-formed faces
self-portraits cooped-up in houses
suggestions of another life
she speaks her mind writes left-handed
interprets the flight of a short-eared bat
the shrills of tree frogs she hitches
a ride inside my head
digs for nutrients
for baptismal hormones
she wants what i speak
the sun hangs heavy
before being swallowed
people write poems on park benches
people have rings in their noses
some have metal clips
dangling from holes in the flesh
you carry pictures of yourself
inked & bloodied
branding is acceptable
cooking skin acceptable
obligatory for some
you’ve booked your trip for later
a night’s thought a remarkable
resistance occurs
tubes of air are force-fed
into your mouth
you’re more of a conundrum an itch
under the eyelid
picking up parcels of summer heat the sun
white-washes couples hugging their lawns an intimacy
is stepping over one another mouths gaping
at the heads of lovers impaled on flashes of sunlight
a house pays the price for sleeping in
after the summer squall
a sundial
warms to your hands & you stroke
its blade stroke the slide of rain
on bruised roman numerals
you push your shadow
into the scar of an old keyhole
i go with girls
ripped open by the moon they live
for renewal fresh-faced precocious
clicked & stamped
& cleared for frivolity
the girls run red along wet streets
where idols hang like half-formed faces
self-portraits cooped-up in houses
suggestions of another life
she speaks her mind writes left-handed
interprets the flight of a short-eared bat
the shrills of tree frogs she hitches
a ride inside my head
digs for nutrients
for baptismal hormones
she wants what i speak
the sun hangs heavy
before being swallowed
people write poems on park benches
people have rings in their noses
some have metal clips
dangling from holes in the flesh
you carry pictures of yourself
inked & bloodied
branding is acceptable
cooking skin acceptable
obligatory for some
you’ve booked your trip for later
|
Iain’s work has been nominated for a Forward Prize for Best Single Poem and Best First Collection. His poems have been published by Harvard Review, POETRY, The New York Times, Stand, Agenda, New Statesman, Amsterdam Review. The Intaglio Poems was published by Hesterglock Press 2017. A chapbook – Project Constellation - was published by Sampson Low 2022. A new collection by Rufus Books Publishing has just been launched, inspired by the New York photographer Diane Arbus. https://www.facebook.com/iainbrittonpoet/
|
