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 24.03.2019
‘and the power of kinship’
and the power of kinship in crossing differences
I mean the power of likeness
means if I ask you to imagine late March you will—
or late April’s sunshine and showers
then you will lay down difference
and take it up to imagine your way towards it
to imagine taking me down to the water’s edge
down to Ullswater’s southern shore
finding—to begin with—the rickety wooden dock
where it strikes out into the lake
where the passenger steam boats still pull in
just a matter of days after the great storm
that swept away all the perimeter bridges
just a matter of hours before the next storm
what I’m saying is storm is our only certainty
Martyn Crucefix 