from Kit Smart’s Ark

for Neil Corcoran

A is for Anchovy

Let David Attenborough rejoice with the Anchovy –
I beheld and lo! a great multitude!

blindsided by youth
you saw the seas glitter
each fish a silver sliver
enough, you thought, for ever

clear-sighted now in age
you hold a blue planet
like a diminishing bait ball
do not let it fall


D is for Dragon-fly

Let David Hockney bless with the Dragon-fly,
who sails over the pond by the wood-side and feedeth on the cressies.

in recognition of secret knowledge shared
let Dürer’s tiny dragonfly take flight
...