{"id":11988,"date":"2021-09-15T12:08:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T11:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988"},"modified":"2021-11-02T21:19:49","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T20:19:49","slug":"3-poems-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988","title":{"rendered":"3 Poems<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h3>\n

footprint<\/strong><\/h3>\n

sometimes sorrow
\nlooms for years
\ndark cloud inching closer<\/p>\n

there\u2019s time to prepare
\nyou\u2019re braced for the blow<\/p>\n

sometimes sorrow
\ncomes out of the blue
\na clear sky
\nnever-dreamed of woe \u2013
\nyou\u2019re unprepared<\/p>\n

yet recognize your sorrow at once
\nas Electra recognises Orestes
\nby his footprint
\nbe it in mud or sand or blood<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

the room<\/strong><\/h3>\n

after the man I want
\nhas swallowed Germany
\nand France
\nI\u2019m allowed back into the room<\/p>\n

he\u2019s quiet as any creature
\nafter such a meal
\ntoo sleepy to fight with me<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been looking forward
\nto a scrap all week
\nbut he holds me at bay
\nsteaming in his wicked sleep like a sauna<\/p>\n

he\u2019s mine, fruit o\u2019 my tongue,
\nmy weal and woe,
\nbut maybe I don\u2019t want him now<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

afternoons at the bedside<\/strong><\/h3>\n

a sequence<\/em><\/p>\n

changeable life
\nof a cloud<\/p>\n

chair
\nwith nine lives<\/p>\n

glow-worms in Wales
\nbuckling and unbuckling the night<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

my bygone fortune
\ncrouching
\nlike a dwarf in a well in a fairy tale<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

the pleasures of being so<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

white concrete steps
\nof the new dam at Argal<\/p>\n

long troughs
\nfull of white foam<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

a coincidence of zebras
\nbeehives of the world
\na cobweb of common sense<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

to keep the colours fresh
\nshe dips her paint brush
\ninto the clear water of the burn<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

when the hare dies
\n<\/em>the fox mourns*<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

cedar tree by a waterfall
\npinches of light
\nseven Septembers done in shadow-stitch
\nthe field\u2019s nickname
\nafternoons at the bedside<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

near-dark darkening away
\non the drumskin of estuary water
\nlast faint light going
\nfrom the water runnels
\nnight coming<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

blue-painted shrine
\ncut into the massive trunk
\nof a old chestnut:<\/p>\n

the holy family
\n(votive scraps tied to the lower branches)<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

these are the paintings he painted
\nafter his wife\u2019s death<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

cats
\n<\/em>have inspired
\n<\/em>many choreographers**<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

day shining
\nlike a new pitchfork
\ngrace-notes
\nof the clouds veering away
\nabstinent light
\nslanting through the open fan
\nof the birch tree
\na grammar of light
\nlong-lost alphabets of light<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

a bridge built
\nsolely by women
\nover sixty years ago
\nacross a wild stretch
\nof the river<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

a compendium of ancient sighs<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

the prayer room
\nand the prayer garden
\nwith a fountain
\nwhere the saint washed his hands
\nbloodstained
\nfrom carrying his severed head for miles<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

this year
\nso much daughtering
\nso much mothering<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

only a ditch of muddy water
\nremains
\nwhere the Tower
\nof Babel stood
\nbut when the Babylonian scribe
\nmade a clay map
\nof the known world
\nhe put Babylon at the centre
\nringed by a protective circle
\nof bitter water
\nand paid great attention
\nto the houses of gods, monsters and heroes
\ndwelling at the rim of the world
\nin eternal deliberation<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

a tiny thought
\ntakes heart in me
\nhow beautiful to be used
\nby unknown hands
\nespecially those I was friends with
\nlong ago
\nin the wedding ring era<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n

when the hare dies:<\/em><\/p>\n

from the Middle English poem, sourced here from The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson, Faber 1972<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

cats have inspired:\u00a0 source untraced<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

footprint sometimes sorrow looms for years dark cloud inching closer there\u2019s time to prepare you\u2019re braced for the blow sometimes sorrow comes out of the blue a clear sky never-dreamed of woe \u2013 you\u2019re unprepared yet recognize your sorrow at once as Electra recognises Orestes by his footprint be it in mud or sand or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":12082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[401,405],"tags":[404],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 Poems - The Manchester Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Poems - The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"footprint sometimes sorrow looms for years dark cloud inching closer there\u2019s time to prepare you\u2019re braced for the blow sometimes sorrow comes out of the blue a clear sky never-dreamed of woe \u2013 you\u2019re unprepared yet recognize your sorrow at once as Electra recognises Orestes by his footprint be it in mud or sand or […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-15T11:08:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-02T20:19:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/08.Across-and-In-Between_1.3MB.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1771\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1181\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Penelope Shuttle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Penelope Shuttle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988\",\"name\":\"3 Poems - The Manchester Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-15T11:08:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-02T20:19:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/17acc84f5853eac472c1203de8d92bcd\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=11988\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Manchester Review\",\"description\":\"The Manchester Review\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/17acc84f5853eac472c1203de8d92bcd\",\"name\":\"Penelope Shuttle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/wp-includes\/images\/blank.gif\",\"caption\":\"Penelope Shuttle\"},\"description\":\"Penelope Shuttle lives in Cornwall. 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