trout

Relict

1

Because the ball conspires
with the manna ash
to deny the child access
he must kick himself
around the schoolyard.

2

Giotto’s circle encloses
the Rolex mechanism.
There is still
time to measure every slight
perfectly.

The relict of yellow stars,
the air is there for us
to point through….

3

There is this
counter-light
which is not

explicit:
it shivers
in the ash.

4

Who is this that cometh
out of the wilderness
like pillars of smoke?

According to the wind
which powders your face
it is the lover

whose breath cremates angels.

5

The child’s tear
fertilises
God’s window-box.

The rest
is
desert.

3.6.1990, Forth Street, Christchurch