Most Read... 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)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 29, Volume 9 Number 3, January - February 1983.

Two Poems Charles Boyle

LOTS ROAD, 1982

The Volvo slows, its driver's window winding down.
Even here you are being followed.

'To Let' signs jut from the warehouse walls
Like discoloured flags, stiffened with salt

And two boys stacking empty beer kegs
To climb the corrugated iron fence
Of the last scrap yard, a stone's throw from the river,

Stop where they are-they're not running,
They're waiting to see what happens next.

* * *

Another day, it might be the civic parade
Beginning with the sound of distant drums

And any moment now there'd be the band
Of the Boys' Brigade come marching into view,
Making a noise to wake the dead.

Today, there's a woman singing-
It could be in Port of Spain-but her voice
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image