Most Read... Rebecca WattsThe Cult of the Noble Amateur
(PN Review 239)
John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Next Issue Kirsty Gunn re-arranges the world John McAuliffe reads Seamus Heaney's letters and translations Chris Price's 'Songs of Allegiance' David Herman on Aharon Appelfeld Victoria Moul on Christopher Childers compendious Greek and Latin Lyric Book Philip Terry again answers the question, 'What is Poetry'
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 191, Volume 36 Number 3, January - February 2010.

Three Poems Fiona Sampson

The Door

The door opens on sun,
and the din
    of tractors working the land

two farms away. Their tines
rake clay
    lined with birds’ bones,

or ropes of hay,
thesaurus of the rural poor…
    Squint out at the day

and you’ll see how each door
frames and crops
    a new story:

once upon a time. …Like luck
it’s gone tomorrow,
    so seize the handle. Hinges strop

but soon a squeezebox quarrels
its way to air,
    horns are all catarrhal sorrow

and here come those sour
familiar songs:
    lost girls, babies who disappear,
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image