Captive
Water (during
Katrina)1. Hampstead Heathnew cootsslice the
water.I am
thirsty.my throat
believes hope is a
quivering stag at the
edge of gladenear a
bottomless wishing welltoo deep
to reflect my face. knowingcoins are
not God’s messengers,
I throw 1 fat quid
down the maw.I’m not
getting something
crucial aboutthis
antlered sunrise.2.London Aquariumcarve the
water.I want the
truth split open.how do I
know these
creatures –with theiralways
moving mouths &
twitching bodies –do not
also helplessly
rage this
caliginous artificial
deep?3. Bom
Jesus, Portugal in misty
fountain spraytoday, I
will drink vinhoverde;observe fat carp
making themselves dizzy for
tourists with fists
of biscuits.a seething
golden schoolslashing
the surface.we throw
bread when it
amuses us,like God. Ravenmemory of
fleshheaving to
my beak’s yanks and
gashes.widecalculated
wings once circled a
predictablefestival
of gore, entrails.black.
clipped. patient.
deliberate. men
kill.ravens
fall. men rise. we
drop.snatch an
ascentcoloured
crimson.mud dark
against turquoise sky.
skimming the end of
empires.NOTE:When the ravens leave
the Tower Of London – according to legend – the White Tower,the Monarchy
& England will fall.They have
been treated exceptionally well for over 300 years.Their wings are clipped. Abney
Park Cemeteryhaphazard
clusters.graves
rubbed clean
of words,looping celtic
crossknots split in one hundred shards of
shattered memory.shiny
fresh tombstones
recently flowered.five
elders clutcha
tattered mapplod
through
brambles.hold branches openlike
doors. searchfor old
mates.a
kestrel snatches birdsong.daisies
push up from
broken sarcophagus,everyone
here is laughing.
