|
Martin Stannard
IN POEMS THINGS STAND FOR OTHER THINGS
1.
He clambers up to the loft and disturbs God at his solitary readings
She falls absolutely a dead weight into the arms of a very ugly man
We wake up to find ourselves locked but happy in a darkened room
& they look at us as if we're the people who vanished the Sun's rays
2.
Before it's too late we should take our library books back
& walking at dusk with one's back to oncoming traffic is relaxing
It takes only one small slip of the tongue to destroy all living things
The squirrels in the park and the horses on the northern slopes etc.
3.
It's not like the great big animal has any useful thoughts of its own
You put into the recycle bin anything you want to put into it
At one extreme there is the fantasy of being better than you are
& at the other extreme a chimney stack collapses onto your head
4.
If we pump our hopes into a balloon and cast them to the sky they will burn
& fall at these feet and these wheels there's not time enough to look down
Sudden onset of herds of thinkings of flocks of distractions of what
Is heading for the instant your smile explodes and the world disappears
5.
The roof is above the room but below our dream of the distant future
& falling into the abyss but rising into the skeleton's cupboard
Once the magnificent horse stepped proudly out into the spotlight
But (and there is always a but) one smaller flower burst blighted forth
6.
A car of blessings and travel with open eyes this dinner with your family
Foretold in cards sweet everything we're good enough for to slumber
& whereas in documents the first thought was placed next to the next
Yesterday's dreaming of my mother whose fortune was it she was telling
7.
& a dream doesn't have silence in it except for some melting snow
Falling into the sun with an anvil on your mind is a waste of time
Seven serpents vanish solemnly henceforth into a strange salty sadness
But you know in the end everything works out exactly like a sweet surprise
Copyright © Martin Stannard, 2009
|
