[lit-ideas] Re: Poem for 21 April
- From: Judy Evans <judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 18:59:32 +0100
I'm in hiding doing family stuff and house stuff and... but can't
resist this,
here's another good Henry Reed poem
NAMING OF PARTS
To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.
This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.
This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.
And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers
They call it easing the Spring.
They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For to-day we have naming of parts.
Thursday, April 21, 2005, 6:40:40 PM, Mirembe Nantongo wrote:
MN> Here's a creepy thoughts-of-death-purging poem (with thanks) for Robert:
MN> Outside and In by Henry Reed
MN> ----------------
MN> Suddenly I knew that you were outside the house.
MN> The trees went silent you were prowling among,
MN> The twig gave warning, snapped in the evening air,
MN> And all the birds in the garden finished singing.
MN> What have you come for? Have you come in peace?
MN> Or have you come to blackmail, or just to know?
MN> And after sunset must I be made to watch
MN> The lawn and the lane, from the bed drawn to the window,
MN> The winking glass on top of the garden wall,
MN> The shadows relaxing and stiffening under the moon?
MN> I am alone, but look, I have opened the doors,
MN> And the house is filling with cold, the winds flow in.
MN> A house so vulnerable and divided, with
MN> A mutiny already inside its walls,
MN> Cannot withstand a siege. I have opened the doors
MN> In sign of surrender. The house is filling with cold.
MN> Why will you stay out there? I am ready to answer.
MN> The doors are open. Why will you not come in?
MN> <><><><>
MN> All best, Mirembe
mailto:judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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