Three Poems

La Manière de jouer au Diable

Fr: diable – Eng: devil; diabolo
(from a display at Het Labyrint estaminet, Kemmel)

Just at the outer corner of the Devil's eye
a man is fishing. He angles his twin rods
and the line goes taut – something rolls and slides
jumping, opens its round mouth
in an O of terror, while in the centre frame –
no doubt about it here – a man is fishing
men. Notice the movement of his hands,
his flexed wrists, the stance
and you'll find yourself grinning
through a mess of tangled hair.
The horns will start to sprout
at your temples, two of them upturned
and two that curl like rams' – and then a tail
to swish at flies with, tufted like a cow's.
...