Most Read... Rebecca WattsThe Cult of the Noble Amateur
(PN Review 239)
John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Tim Parksin conversation with Natalia Ginzburg
(PN Review 49)
Next Issue Hal Coase 'Ochre Pitch' Gregory Woods 'On Queerness' Kirsty Gunn 'On Risk! Carl Phillips' Galina Rymbu 'What I Haven't Written' translated by Sasha Dugdale Gabriel Josipovici 'No More Stories' Valerie Duff-Strautmann 'Anne Carson's Wrong Norma'
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
PN Review 275
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 100, Volume 21 Number 2, November - December 1994.

Five Poems Peter Sansom

The Folklore of Plants
Joss slices hunks of ham
off the ham-hock. His hand clamps
the bone to the table
and he cuts away from himself 'because that way
you never cut yourself. When he
eases the pressure, the milky pearl
of the knuckle shines more brightly.
I am reading a book called The Folklore of Plants.
It is Saturday tea,
makeshift because Mother is poorly.

'Blockbusters' tells us the Italian-born pioneer
of radio was Macaroni. Dad grips the loaf,
butters the open edge before slicing.
Tea appears by magic
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image