September 10th, 2001
On the beach, the limber body
Sprawled in archipelagos,
Between the sea and land.
The warmest evening of the year,
Driving past, seconds
To make the right decision
To last the whole of life,
To stay or move on,
The windows closed, the cells
Of love turned out,
The resting boats quiet and cold
With nowhere left to go.
And finding somewhere permanent
The hardest thing I’d ever tried before.
Entering the coastal town
The cliff hotels
Opened their windows all at once,
Breaking strands of sun
To greet the end of days.
To the Figurehead
One day I will walk down the hill
From the folly observatory, the line
Of the sea above temperate palms
And white stuccoed houses,
The monkey puzzle tree
The pavement by the boarding houses
And the turn in the road, with falling ground
Leading to the church of Charles, King Martyr,
And the open harbour
The village with the Dutch name,
Where my mother and father
Journeyed for their honeymoon.
So as a single man
From the harbour-side street
In the middle of life,
I buy the last goods,
The few things I’ll need
Beside the figurehead
And watch the broken, dry-docked ships
From all parts of the world,
Their sides repainted
Their masts and pillars gilded
Their engines fortified
For the journeys they must make
On open seas.
Journey to Ireland
Passage from Holyhead Quay
The blue night sign
The strange circular passage
Were those rocks?
The funnel illuminated
Snorted rages
On the cold grey sea
Is this the land, really?
The strange accented voices
This is the land
Ireland rejoices.
*
When I approached Howth Hill
On a mild cloudbroken morning
The sea and sky did seem
Emanating delicate light.
You were below in the hold, I staying
On the deck, running with the seabirds,
Hearing the voices of children.
That was years ago,
My Christian hopes, love
All gone, all gone.
*
I have a living God who died
Before I could love him.
He died in the desert
Before it was green rock.
Human beings die in stone.
I can see him in the rock.
Nothing to hide
I let you look inside my face.
What can you see inside
Which would offend you?
Your eyes are blue and cold,
My face, my brain is open
The lock is broken,
What would you do with me?
When my head is broken
With the knowledge that you have?
You see it, touch it
Through jade eyes
Your alien skin,
I let you look at me
For there is nothing
I want to hide,
I let you breach my head,
Observe the chip of goodness
Which everybody has,
The purity and goodness
I know I must believe I have
If I am to survive.
