Wednesday 6 February 2013

"Who Can Interpret a Broken Branch..."

Who can interpret a broken branch
   Or a spot of blood on the Down?
Who can discover the locus of pain
   Or the exact mid-point of a frown?

At midnight the sky is a blank, black disc,
   As blank as a disused noun:
A ship is gnawing its bones on the rocks,
   The seamen pray as they drown.

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© March 1980