'To Give Painless Light' – A Selection of Poems by LJS

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Poem 52: Go Gently now

go gently now

in these ways

of loving

go kindly now

with me

for I have not

loved

in this manner

before.… Read the rest


Poem 51: Dragon Pulse

she is bleeding still

my birth

racked mother

of the left hand witness

who laughingly bled

and diamond

kneed the sun

to hold his light

from groin to throat

and back

before the dragon pulse

released her vow

once given

now twice shy

to touch his

sparkling glove

and receive… Read the rest


Poem 50: Lytham ps

in a quiet room

we held the night

holding warm

the audient leaves

and they

stay with me

stay with me.

on a morning shore

we held

the sea

holding warm

the eyes

of children

still passing by

passing by.… Read the rest


Poem 49: Letter to S (I saw today)

A girl child examining the colours of a recently grazed knee.

A shallow green lake boasting ownership of half a bedframe

A group of cows waiting patiently as ever for the morning
and or the afternoon or the evening.

A sudden view of night yellow street lights speeding the
homeward … Read the rest


Poems 48: Ode to Billy Blake

and I thought that I had dreamt me as a dream in which I stood upon a great shore
and yet was stood above it, and then above the sea, and yet below it, and I saw
a doorway in the sea and to it was joined a gateway in … Read the rest


Poem 47: These Streets That I Know

once apon a time

he would have

fought the world

for her

but now they fight

in a shop doorway

young man

young wife.

_________________

by a bus stop

raining

a large man

shelters

a small dog

under his jacket.

__________________

women

with folded arms

talking the day

into a … Read the rest


Poem 46: Leaves

rose petals

at my feet

one advantage

of an outside toilet

___________________

unsuspectingly

married again

by my son

and a newly found

box of confetti.

___________________

sleeping leaves

awoken

by the feet

of running children.

___________________

Mary had

a little lamb

his fleece

was white

as snow

and to every … Read the rest


Poem 45: Junk

love

broken wings

love

neon dreams

love

Pwax haloes

love

iron flowers

love

barbed statues

love

crimson chambers

love

acid chains

love

luminous needles

love

paper arms

love

diamond eyes

love

painted stones

love

falling clouds

love

morning wretches

love

cold shells

love

empty always

love

love me

please.… Read the rest


Poem 44: A Pair of Distant Swallows

on a Meditterranean

Sun day

cold sea sand

beneath our feet.

___________________

from the silent

forest floor

beyond your shoulder

a lattice work

of sparkling leaves.

___________________

a flight of wild

stairs

from

my bed

to the street

below, and are

you still running my love

____________________

alone now

with … Read the rest


Poem 43: Washington Park

and around the park
merry-go-round
the traffic moves on
you say goodby
giving back
each other
to each other
and the city
takes back
the park
it lent you
a hidden place
for the paradise bird
but now
more a raven meet.
and turning away
from you
once more
she … Read the rest


Poem 42: Stansted Ken

poetry is for people
who read in the night
horses are for people
who look through windows
for a wandering plain
freedom
in many shades of tan
and with the desert
you can have your wordless
friend, but give him
silver studs on a saddle
of black leather
and a … Read the rest


Poem 41: The Changing Gate

Why now my years have you brought me to the changing gate, shimmering bright
a formless haze yet with a detail painful in its clarity, with needles of perception
fine and terrible changing a tormented grid into a fan of loving fire, a stuttering
corpse into a rhyming song, approaching … Read the rest


Poem 40: Coombe Martin 72

hangman both, hanging me
to sea grown rocks below
lovers always
in games of green and grey
returning, leaving, racing back
to cover with gentle running fingers
smooth white curls
fading into pools
of dark ground stones
causing the bed to rise
in terraced angles
of sheltered rock
two brooding … Read the rest


Poem 39: Nursery

in this crowded room
we are alone
looking down
at each others hands
so gently
I will ask you
once more
if you remember
how we played
in the embrace
of our first nursery
it really was ours
in the beginning
clean and bright
like a new coin
spinning at … Read the rest


Poem 38: Mummy’s Boy

I saw your son
this afternoon
sitting opposite me
on the train
eating peppermints
fro a large paper bag
unsure
of the people
he watches
as they change stops
whatever it was
you wanted for him
I don’t think
he achieved it
his shirts
are nearly clean
his trousers
almost … Read the rest


Poem 37: Protest Song

a rat under the bandwagon

is rinsing his pearls for us

in a broken rhesus jar

and (dear God) already we are lost

a blind salesman in yellow fur

offers the cartoon city marble

against a sky of silly blue

and (dear God) already we are lost.

the iron beam … Read the rest


Poem 36: Did You Ever

did you ever

get one of those mornings

all sunshine

in a crowded high street

all those people

with sun in their hair

even the shopping bags

were smiling

supermarket displays

all those colours

I wanted

to hug everybody

and say ” I love you”

but all those protectors

of … Read the rest


Poem 35: Putting Asunder

You said, love is seeing
the morning
complete as the rain
made three almost four,of us
you said,and in saying
saw my name
as the stranger outside your window.

You said, love is feeling
the afternoon
an endless rising dream
of tomorrow in gold
you said, and in saying
forgot … Read the rest


Poem 34: Mornings Tower

show me mornings tower
prism built, night washed
dawn held and waiting.
help me climb, mornings tower
for I am lame and sleeping late
have awakened
after the Lords of Mid-Heaven
have dismantled the tower.
leaving me the riddle
of one more endless day.
but my father has given me… Read the rest


Poem 33: Peace was the Virtue

peace was the virtue
thrown against the wall
left to hang, and later
sliding down
to rest huddled
and stretched
with the hungry
called necessary
and thrown again
to the torn
and empty people
as a sadly grotesque clown
paraded before them
as a friend
but constant only
in repetition… Read the rest


Poem 32: Jeff and Terry

clap your hands
and think of me
again for me
I cannot, as yet
but still trying.

clap your hands
part the air
watch the curve
of my eyes
as I wish
for your perfect arms.

clap your hands
accept me
as I miss
yet again
for I will one … Read the rest


Poem 31: Shangri-la

who would

have thought

that looking

at our house

from the outside

that there

would be

so many

arguments

going on

inside.… Read the rest


Poem 30: Owl Song

a tallow wand
writing in shadow
free cast the moon
an altar deep
in exceeding shallows
of cold
awakened the night
captured eyes
of the catcher
in steel breath
and iron down
on flighted path
of severed star
and branchless course
to death
in concave line
and tearing tree
collecting … Read the rest


Poem 29: Our Cat

yesterday, our cat

brought home

a small new potatoe

today, a plastic shuttlecock.

now she watches me

from beneath

a canolpy of daffodils

shading the sun

jade green

was this really

the governess of Egypt

so many families ago.… Read the rest