FROM TALL BUILDINGS WE
FAREWELL TALL SHIPS
HMS Endeavour leaves Wellington Harbour
Thirty floors up
the conference table
waxes vast and smooth
Wharves and docks
motorways, parking lots
spill themselves
into the distance
black-backed gulls
hustle the air
Tiny boats, white chicks,
trail the tall ship
out to the heads
tack back home
as its sails reach out
to the racing clouds
Reflecting, I turn towards
my computer screen
tumbled about with stars.
LANDSCAPE WITH HOPELESSLY RESTLESS FIGURES
In the car they whined and they squabbled:
limericks, word games for hours, forever.
The road barely touched the horizon.
Outside, the green grain rippled and waved
for miles, identical miles. We called
it a sea. Look, we kept saying, look,
have you ever seen a sea of grass?
They were outraged, yet another lie,
like, It’s not far now—We’ll be there soon.
SCIENCE MUSEUM, GLASGOW
Plasma dances to the edge
of the bell jar
chasing your warm hands
following your touch ...
A nearby sandstorm
likewise under glass
heaps dissected dunes
dumps them in new forms ...
Letters spin on stacked-up wheels
slow down, stop to spell
the codebreaker, the magic word ...
You are bored
Yes the ice cream yes the drink
yes yes the packet of crisps and
enough is enough is enough
let’s go go go now now now
The train takes us along new lines
molecules juddering underground
You sit thoughtful in the racket
Your hands trace the shape
of the bell jar.
SUPERNOVA
Star light, star bright
it probably will
I expect it might
I could have had
what might have been
if needs had must
or would’ve (then).
It maybe will be
(not sure if I should)
I might possibly see
what I used to could.
