Poem 182
Written in 1980 when I was twenty and (I think) published in Nexus (Waikato University student newspaper) – I seem to remember, during the weekend we spent laying out that issue, jumping on my bike and going round to a friend’s flat to get some feedback on the poem before it was printed …
( I like the way this flows, how I’m learning something about rhythm and how to use imperfection to break rhythm – I like the formality of one and one’s in the first few lines, the alliteration and rhymes, the inversion of the stars falling into place – and the poem’s continuing relevance, the choices each new day challenges us with … )
Choices
Today is a day one might cut one's wrists or cut one's hair clear the table or clear the air of the clutter and crust that a life builds up today the stars may fall there's always the chance they could fall into place today I could take the world by the balls I could lick the paper off all the walls or I could vanish without a trace it's been done before the day holds choices through the bars dances a little in doubt left or right a little less or more half a step and you're at the door the question remains in or out?