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Geoff Ward - Two poems

from Mondegreen, published in 2000 by Equipage, Cambridge

Enquiries about Equipage books to Rod Mengham, Director, Studies in English, Jesus College, Cambridge CB5 8BL, United Kingdom


 
 

      Trapped Wind

                To Alfred Tennyson, Lester Young and Jack Spicer

Lament the harp that in its casement broods
Dumb for lack of wind, for being human
Signs escape you. But when the breeze intrudes,

Its sighing tells an all-too-human tale; boy
Meets girl, signifier meets signified,
Boy falls in love with signifier . . . Toy

Or tarry as you must, but clouds will burst;
For being human, signs escape you crying
Of course that there is no escape. Who durst

Come tapping at the casement? Help me! I
Am Moth-Man! Hel- Too late. The world is cold
The swifter to heal over, carelessly

Careful of its carful of key players.
Top dog in the food-chain Night's barking again
Though the same moon agitates all our prayers

For safety, who share most in truth the things
Known least about ourselves, the dark side of
The same interior stars. A wristwatch pings.

An owl. Some late cars cough. Easy Does It,
A coffin full of glitter spilled in space.
Then all's downloaded. Press Esc to exit,

Toll the bell and wind the harp. Aim to sleep tight,
But children's children's children's children don't -
So, up again at 3 am to write

An infant crying for the light
An infant crying in the night
And with no language but that night


      Pantoum

The sculptor is known for his moon-shapes and use of the organic
He invites us for the weekend to his white house on the Lizard
Harsh words are exchanged and he chases us, brandishing driftwood
We decide we hate modernism and that life is good in Cheam

He invites us for the weekend to his white house on the Lizard
Where I noticed my eyes had changed colour in the cold
We decide we hate modernism and that life is good in Cheam
Despite the steep increase in barely solved murders

Where I noticed my eyes had changed colour in the cold
The princess was looking for a pea to lend significance
Despite the steep increase in barely solved murders
I found her a warm space and floated immediately

The princess was looking for a pea to lend significance
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan
I found her a warm space and floated immediately
Consult the cards, watch carefully, thin paper for Mao's thoughts

Here, where men sit and hear each other groan
New caves are going up, ready for the managers
Consult the cards, watch carefully, thin paper for Mao's thoughts
Where stands the deserted transmitter: put on goggles

New caves are going up, ready for the managers
He had got to grips with history and thrown it in a corner
Where stands the deserted transmitter: put on goggles
Poring over sheets that bear the legend Desperate Drenchings

He had got to grips with history and thrown it in a corner
When he came across his father, for many years north-facing
Poring over sheets that bear the legend Desperate Drenchings
And laughing at the government

When he came across his father, for many years north-facing
So as to catch the sunlight, rolling on the sea
And laughing at the government
Of beauty, of loss and of love's mystery

So as to catch the sunlight, rolling on the sea
When I held her I held vines and crumbling balustrades that sighed
Of beauty, of loss and of love's mystery
In the same dream, the same car in the driveway

When I held her I held vines and crumbling balustrades that sighed
The sculptor is known for his moon-shapes and use of the organic
In the same dream, the same car in the driveway
He invites us for the weekend to his white house on the Lizard



 
 

Geoff Ward is a Professor of English at the University of Dundee in Scotland. He has published seven books or chapbooks of poetry, beginning with Tales From the Snowline (1977) and more recently Rilke's Duino Elegies (barbarously recast) and Mondegreen (both Equipage, 1998, 2000). You can read a review of Barbara Guest's If So, Tell Me by Geoff Ward in this issue of Jacket.

 


 
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