FATHER
Father Fa-ther Farther
The lips must push apart to make the sound
The jaw knocking/unlocking like a skull at play
Nestlings calling for the warming milk
Father Fa-ther Farther
And at the sounding of its screw, it scores
Its rings like scars within my tubes
Ringlets of its turns jangle in my jars
Father Fa-ther Farther
An infant growling in the god-stopped gash
A curlew wailing in the winding of the day
A blind thing mewling in the moon-sliced night
Father Fa-ther Farther
Silenced in the space of sliding time
The echo urges in a flash then falls
An insult in an un-remembered tongue
Father Fa-ther Farther
An unusual poem dependent on being heard. The first 'father' spoken quietly, the second in a 'horror-ghost' voice and the third whispered. This is the story of a father whose presence was clearly defined by absence.
ReplyDeleteAn infant growling in the god-stopped gash.....totally wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris-it's always something of a risk that Germanic gash-word!
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