i.

Colosuss

when black ships
came on the wine dark sea
wicker man bronze
plated you defended
& straddled the sea
until earth quaked
& cracked you in the knee.

ii.

Portrait of Caravajo

a mealy groat faced
boy, a nero imp,
a bachanalian pimp
in vatican saturnalia,
he deplores our fall
& relishes its gore.

iii.

Adam.

it's not man
made of clay
but the day
the potters song
got it wrong.

iv.

Fatality.

the mirror is a jade
either flushed with flawed beauty
or a scorched shadow
it never knows transformations
it never comes or goes.

v.

Anomaly

life is not a clock
but distortion of texture
in a present mould:

merlin frozen in a cave,
ariel sealed in a tree.

vi.

No Banners.

there are no stars in dreams
only banners of fears
as tears spent as years
lost to their secret desires
but where have all the stars gone?
to the grave yard everyone.

vii.

the world's a heap of accidents
an absurd box of tricks,
get this, destiny's anachronistic.

viii.

my floppy white angora
has a fanged visceral hiss
reminds me a woman i know
when she wants me to kiss
& i think she's taking the piss.

ix.

i'm taking a lane
i cant cut through,
is anyone home,
does anyone care,
is anyone there,
said the listener.*

* after Walter de la Mare

x.

mortal is
as mortal does
as mortal as
the day

mortal mouth
mortal hands
made of mortal clay
such is life
before death*

after Kavanagh

xi.

i'm off bird spotting
because birds have heart attacks
& drop from the sky
but find instead fly agaric
seventeenth of september.

xii.

picking blackberries
draws blood ripe juice black & red
mixes from a thorn.

Copyright Robin Ouzman Hislop 2004 All rights reserved.