This poem is taken from PN Review 236, Volume 43 Number 6, July - August 2017.
Puddle
I
Something wrong under this bit of pavement –
some resettlement of grit or sand –
has tipped the slabs to make a shallow dish,
a bowl of rain we have to walk around.
Though it’s an inconvenient arrangement
no one complains, there are no roadworks planned;
because we know the council isn’t rich
we watch our feet on its uneven ground.
Everything must be paid for, saved, or spent
except this derelict liquid silver island
glinting with the inner-city mix
that drags my eye down through its lost-and-found:
chicken bones, matchsticks, dogshit, water fleas,
corroding copper wishes, bright 5ps.
II
What am I doing, talking to a puddle?
I don’t talk to people or to birds;
...
Something wrong under this bit of pavement –
some resettlement of grit or sand –
has tipped the slabs to make a shallow dish,
a bowl of rain we have to walk around.
Though it’s an inconvenient arrangement
no one complains, there are no roadworks planned;
because we know the council isn’t rich
we watch our feet on its uneven ground.
Everything must be paid for, saved, or spent
except this derelict liquid silver island
glinting with the inner-city mix
that drags my eye down through its lost-and-found:
chicken bones, matchsticks, dogshit, water fleas,
corroding copper wishes, bright 5ps.
II
What am I doing, talking to a puddle?
I don’t talk to people or to birds;
...
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 286 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 286 issues containing over 11,500 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews, why not subscribe to the website today?