This poem is taken from PN Review 243, Volume 45 Number 1, September - October 2018.
Five Poems from ‘Ring Cairns’
We are incredible. Our tombs say so. We are
the children of work-destroyed bodies. We walk
up to the circular cemetery at midnight
and shout: ‘Lazare, veni foram’ I know you’re in there!
Come out of it. And tell us the truth,
after the event, do we wake up or what?
And if we do, what does the world matter? No,
he says, and the owls signal along the woods each
to each in heraldic hoots: Brother, sister, it turns out
there is no knowing, as we’ve always known.
They say no more but, credible creatures, defy
the regression of polity, crunch a few mice and amen.
*
I remember… I forget what I remember.
Ah, Robyn, gentle Robyn, your soft locks
on my forehead and nobody said a word.
It’s not a folk song. It’s a technicality.
...
the children of work-destroyed bodies. We walk
up to the circular cemetery at midnight
and shout: ‘Lazare, veni foram’ I know you’re in there!
Come out of it. And tell us the truth,
after the event, do we wake up or what?
And if we do, what does the world matter? No,
he says, and the owls signal along the woods each
to each in heraldic hoots: Brother, sister, it turns out
there is no knowing, as we’ve always known.
They say no more but, credible creatures, defy
the regression of polity, crunch a few mice and amen.
*
I remember… I forget what I remember.
Ah, Robyn, gentle Robyn, your soft locks
on my forehead and nobody said a word.
It’s not a folk song. It’s a technicality.
...
The page you have requested is restricted to subscribers only. Please enter your username and password and click on 'Continue'.
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 285 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 285 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?