Poem 118

A poem from 1984 included in my Original Composition portfolio and later in Smalls … one of the assessors of the portfolio said it was ‘a perfectly realised evocation of an action in its major dimensions’ …

Rope Swing

Eels lie low
in the river
and children's feet
explode inwards
through the ceiling

the sun shines all the way
to the bottom
where a slow breeze envelops
and unrolls the weeds

above
there is the long
rushing swing
the shout
the drop at the perfect
moment of pause
and a barely-seen shadow
racing to touch toes
at the surface