{"id":3225,"date":"2013-11-24T14:03:53","date_gmt":"2013-11-24T14:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=3225"},"modified":"2013-12-18T10:24:01","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T10:24:01","slug":"heidi-williamson-2-poems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=3225","title":{"rendered":"Two Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
\n<\/a>LETTERPRESS<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i>
\n\u2018A print is properly a dent on the page. <\/i>
\nThe whole history of letterpress is the abolition of that dent.\u2019<\/i>
\nEric Gill <\/i><\/p>\n

 
\nYour first challenge is how to read
\nupside down and left to right.
\nWhen you\u2019ve mastered this, compose
\nyour chosen letters on the stick,
\nlike Scrabble. Don\u2019t fret at impenetrable
\ntext. Your fingers are pure muscle memory:
\ntheir movements to and from the case
\nwill let you know what\u2019s out of place.
\nEmploy your shooting stick and mallet
\nto add leading strips and knurled furniture
\nto make a page. Lock it tight to form
\na chase that\u2019s full of these. Then place
\nyour caged lead in its letterpress bed.
\nNext, the ink: essentially as Caxton used.
\nIt quakes gelatinously. You want it even,
\nbut you know its greasy mass responds
\nto its surroundings. On certain days,
\nyou need to roll it out repeatedly.
\nThere\u2019s peace in doing this,
\nthough deadlines may be ticking.
\nYou need it tacky and malleable.
\nNow, make ready. This takes time,
\nas the type is worn: certain letters
\ntake a beating. Twists of paper, tissue\u2026
\nuse anything to build an even surface.
\nProve until you have the perfect print.
\nCheck for literals, the spread of ink,
\nthen set it going, hell for leather.
\nMind out the flying fingers flinging
\npaper in and out. You mustn\u2019t rest.
\nThe ink will lessen, the type will stress.
\nYou\u2019re alert for tiny variations
\ncreeping in. A certain tolerance,
\nthen you have to intervene.
\nStop everything. Begin again.
\nRemember, it\u2019s impossible to render
\nthe same way twice. But you\u2019re no
\nwet-behind-the-ears apprentice,
\nrunning off for stripy ink and a long
\nweight. By the time the run is done,
\nyou\u2019ll be covered in ink and sweat,
\ncuts, bruises, burns and scars.
\nYour ears will sing with pain.
\nYour lungs retain microscopic
\nremnants of paper, metal, chemicals.
\nYour back will creak, your knuckles
\ncrack, your eyes will strain
\nfrom too much looking.
\nRemember too, that it takes time,
\nafter. To diss the type back
\nin its case, clean down machines,
\nyourself, your space. Unmaking
\ntakes almost as long as creating.
\nEach element of every day
\nwill take your mind, your body
\nand enduring soul to complete.
\nAnd if you do your job just so,
\nthere\u2019ll be no sign of you at all
\nin any sleekly finished sheet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SPAN<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018Give me 26 soldiers of lead <\/i>
\nand I will conquer the world.\u2019 <\/i>
\nBenjamin Franklin<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

 
\nMy father\u2019s hands
\n 
\nserve a seven-year apprenticeship.
\n 
\nlift a levered eagle with one fingertip.
\n 
\nmix gloopy vats of unworked words.
\n 
\nfill minute gaps with furniture.
\n 
\ndam straggly rivers with careful kerning.
\n 
\nblot daily mistakes onto skin.
\n 
\nbloom inky roses.
\n 
\nbob and weave around pulverising rollers.
\n 
\nken languages his lips don\u2019t know.
\n 
\nlock up a forme so tight it clicks each letter home.
\n 
\nvary in strength from moment to moment.
\n 
\nswagger the dabber on pooled magenta: a grounded pendulum.
\n 
\nlearn to master the predictable but unreliable.
\n 
\nresemble a repeatedly bombarded planet.
\n 
\ndevelop chemically-pitted crevices; split pink chasms.
\n 
\nare conscientious as the coalman on a steam train.
\n 
\nchoose, but never wear handgloves.
\n 
\nhold out each proof as if a missive to his love.
\n 
\nnails grim with grease, lift the paper leaf by leaf.
\n 
\nwork a tinnitus of levers.
\n 
\nattend to surface, depth and evenness.
\n 
\nseldom form a printer\u2019s fist but when they do, beware you men of lead.
\n 
\nmark up, mend, are always making ready.
\n 
\nsensitise the stone.
\n 
\nlater, grind it clean, begin again, one layer lower.
\n <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

LETTERPRESS \u00a0 \u2018A print is properly a dent on the page. The whole history of letterpress is the abolition of that dent.\u2019 Eric Gill   Your first challenge is how to read upside down and left to right. When you\u2019ve mastered this, compose your chosen letters on the stick, like Scrabble. Don\u2019t fret at impenetrable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"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":[298,299],"tags":[302],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nTwo 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=3225\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"http:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=3225&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two Poems - The Manchester Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LETTERPRESS \u00a0 \u2018A print is properly a dent on the page. The whole history of letterpress is the abolition of that dent.\u2019 Eric Gill   Your first challenge is how to read upside down and left to right. When you\u2019ve mastered this, compose your chosen letters on the stick, like Scrabble. 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