Works and Days of Division – 29 poems by Martyn Crucefix

Drawing on two disparate sources, this sequence of mongrel-bred poems has been written to respond to the historical moment in this most disunited kingdom. Hesiod’s Works and Days – probably the oldest poem in the Western canon – is a poem driven by a dispute between brothers. The so-called vacana poems originate in the bhakti religious protest movements in 10-12th century India. Through plain language, repetition and refrain, they offer praise to the god, Siva, though they also express personal anger, puzzlement, even despair. Dear reader – if you like what you find here, please share the poems as widely as you can (no copyright restrictions). Or follow this blog for future postings. Bridges need building.

 

Sunday 3.03.2019

‘watch the child at her bright picture book’

i.m. Bernice Joyce Hale

 

watch the child at her bright picture book

how she mutters

 

how she gazes into mid-air

her several gestures are of several kinds

it’s as if she does

the different voices herself

 

while gazing up into mid-air

her mother at her cooling latte

at her macchiato

 

at her cooling skinny medium cappuccino

at her americano her mother

at her frappucino rising to room temperature

 

her mother’s ears securely wired

with two scarlet buds

she gazes for minutes into the middle distance

 

hot red wires snaking into her lap

all the bridges down

 

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