Month: July 2023

THIS IS WHAT THE MAN SAID

Malevich

THIS IS WHAT THE MAN SAID

Tonight, I heard a man say, firmly, and with absolute certainty
That, standing in a holy place, drowned by light and washed with colour,
He had caught a glimpse of heaven.
A glimpse of heaven!
Well, then!

He said shafts of sunshine falling through tall windows
Had fallen on his shoulders; delicate green shadows
Catching his lively face, his tapping fingers.
When the sound of pipe and small drum began to practise living,
Lifting the silence, lifting the weight of emptiness,
He had caught a glimpse of heaven.
A glimpse of heaven!
Well, then!

He dryly observed dust motes dancing, registered
How the clear, cold colour of great flowers
Delighting in fabulous vases, carried the tiny clutch of merry daisies
Resting in tin lids of water were carried with them.
Their wild and holy perfume, their tiny constant fragrance
Filling the candle-lit darkness.
Noting his feet, stone still and waiting, yet in their visiting,
He had caught a glimpse of heaven.
A glimpse of heaven!
Well, then!

But was he who he thought he was?
Those feet his own feet or the feet of the restless soldier
Standing beside him.
Stone mouth wide open, dusty tongue
Ready to confirm with clarity and with vision,
He had caught a glimpse of heaven!
A glimpse of heaven!
Well, then!

   Well, then.

                                                ©2023 Gwen Grant

CIRCLING ROUND   

             CIRCLING ROUND                          

Sometimes lovers are surprised
By their own ardent fire,
Scorched by the ferocity of the flame
Blazing in them.
Until, flying too close to this new sun,
They are wrecked and wounded by rejection. 

But lovers wind the thin linen of consolation
Around a damaged heart.
Forgiving unfulfilled promises,
Waiting it out.
Sure the beloved will ease their pain,
Turn back to them. 

For this is the love they have waited for.
So no wound, mortal or easeful,
Will ever wrest it from them.
Nothing will stop their suffering,
For pain is part of love’s package,
And lovers drown in desire
Until desire destroys them. 

Lost love is a bad dream,
Rejected love, a nightmare.
Only when the ecstasy burns out,
The flame turns to ash, the fire to cinders,
And the old love done with,
Can a new and glorious passion begin. 

                                    © 2017 Gwen Grant

PRIVATE KEEP OUT!  by Gwen Grant
published by Penguin Vintage  Children’s Classics
available in paperback and as an ebook

GOAT IN THE MOONLIGHT     

When there were goats in the paddock, the big one, and he was
really big, was very aggressive. He bashed down our fence and
stalked into the garden. When I tried to shoo him back onto the
grass, he lowered his head, then started to rattle his feet at me.
There was a lot more of him than of me so I backed carefully away.
While he was there with his little company of goats, he went
exactly where he pleased. I found him very scary. He’s the closest
to the Great God Pan I have ever seen. Now we have a flock of
sheep who follow anyone who comes to take a short cut.
But they are absolutely non-aggresive, for which I am truly thankful! 


         GOAT IN THE MOONLIGHT        

The big goat’s ghost is in the paddock,
He must have forgotten to take it with him,
For when I look out of the window at midnight,
I see him stomping down the grass,
Looking for trouble.

Smashing everything that stands in his way,
Rearing up against the apple tree,
Ripping the apples from the branches
With huge brown teeth.

Just as I think of banging on the glass
To scare him away, he sees me,
His wicked eyes glinting in the moonlight,
Full of hate, full of the desire to kill.
Starting towards me, his great body moving
As fast as a shadow blown in the wind.

I am deathly afraid.

Until the moonlight dissolves him,
Turning the night back to normal.
I wonder where he has gone,
Knowing there is no comfort for me
Until I know exactly
Where he has found a place to hide.

                        ©2021 Gwen Grant.