Gerald England: Collected Poetical Works: August 2010

Tuesday 31 August 2010

[6e]

© Gerald England

Composed: Bath, 6th September 1973

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1990 The Affiliate (Canada)

[4j]

© Gerald England

Composed: Falmouth, 4th September 1973

Publications

1974 Roots (UK)
1987 Channels (USA)
1992 And What of Tomorrow (UK)
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

Monday 30 August 2010

[8g]

Probus Church
© Copyright Tony Atkin and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

© Gerald England

Composed: Falmouth, 3rd September 1973

Publications

1985 Printed Matter (Japan)
2003 SOUNDING HEAVEN AND EARTH (Norwich, Canterbury Press)

Sunday 29 August 2010

[7d]

© Gerald England

Composed: Scillonian, 1st September 1973

Publications

1990 Peace & Freedom (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

[4i]

© Gerald England

Composed: Scillonian, 1st September 1973

Publications

1990 Peace & Freedom (UK)
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

Saturday 28 August 2010

[4h]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 30th August 1973

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1985 Printed Matter (Japan)
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

Friday 27 August 2010

[3c]

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth, 10th August 1973

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1985 Printed Matter (Japan)

Thursday 26 August 2010

Wednesday 25 August 2010

[4g]

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth, 2nd August 1973

Publications

1982 Interstate (USA)
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

[9d]

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth, 1st August 1973

Publications

1982 Interstate (USA)
1984 The Old Police Station (UK)

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Monday 23 August 2010

[6c]

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth, 3rd July 1973

Publication

1993 JEWELS & BINOCULARS (Exeter/Plymouth, Stride/Westwords)

[8d]

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth, 1st July 1973

Publications

1974 Osiris (USA)
1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

Sunday 22 August 2010

Saturday 21 August 2010

[4e]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 26th June 1973

Publications

1981 DADDYCATION (Ashton under Lyne, New Hope International)
1987 Prophetic Voices
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

[5e]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 26th June 1973

Publications

1981 DADDYCATION (Ashton under Lyne, New Hope International)
1987 Prophetic Voices

Friday 20 August 2010

[11b]

© Gerald England

Composed: Royd Moor, 16th June 1973

Publications

1982 Interstate (USA)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

Thursday 19 August 2010

[56da]

© Gerald England

Composed: London, 6th June 1973

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1982 Interstate (USA)

Wednesday 18 August 2010

[4d]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 29th May 1973

Publications

1974 Osiris (USA)
1987 Prophetic Voices (USA)
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

[44bc]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 25th May 1973

Publications

1985 National Poetry Convention Magazine (UK)
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

Tuesday 17 August 2010

[8a]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 22nd May 1973

Publications

1985 Printed Matter (Japan)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

[555abc]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 20th May 1973

Publications

1985 Printed Matter (Japan)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)

Monday 16 August 2010

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 17th March 1973

Publications

1978 TOUCHSTONE (Brookeville, M.O.Publishing Co.)
1982 Interstate (USA)
1982 Poema Convidado (USA)
1990 Lost & Found Times (USA)

[9b]

[2a]

Sunday 15 August 2010

[1a]

[4a]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 10th May 1973

Publications

1985 Printed Matter (Japan)
1993 FOUR SQUARE REPLAY (Leeds, Krax)

[15a]

Saturday 14 August 2010

[13a]

[9a]

Composed: Sheffield, 2nd May 1973

Publication

Interstate (USA)

Friday 13 August 2010

[11a]

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 1st May 1973

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1982 Interstate (USA)
1993 Apostrophe (UK)
2003 Blackbird (USA)

The Ice Is Frozen In Upon Itself

THE ICE IS FROZEN IN UPON ITSELF

The ice is frozen in upon itself
No amount of hyacinths
or pricking roses can melt
There is a hole in it from which blood pours
From the other opening
come waves in cut air
One of the holes is useless
sterile
essence of nothing
The ice is frozen in upon itself
Fire frightens it
sends into panic
Two ducts exude salt water
Shed skin withers
The ingathering of ethanolic drugs
is accentuation of accumulation
But even steady pressure
creates no heat
The ice is frozen in upon itself

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 29th April 1973

Publications

1974 Littack (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1993 Dial 174 (UK)
1993 Apostrophe (UK)

Thursday 12 August 2010

Wind On The Road

WIND ON THE ROAD

The soft breeze gale
deposits a patchwork of leaves,
demolishes the trees in rows,
scatters seed

Coloured blooms light a flat field
Fat flowers gyrate in the wind
under a cloud-hidden disc
of questioning warmth

Bicycle tyres tread a gravelled path
There is a sideside wobble
as wheels turn according to gradient
Handlebars are tightly gripped

Scurries of rainfall wets faces
hurrying to many active places,
smears the glass, confuses vision
Claritylack hinders control

In the end a still, small voice
Movement is rapid but unnoticed
Progression's a going ahead from
not forward towards

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 24th April 1973

Publications

1974 Promontory (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1989 Short Fuse (USA)
1990 Left-Footed Wombat (USA)
1993 Lo Straniero (Italy)

(47)

it is rarely the
wisest of women who will
yield by appointment

Wednesday 11 August 2010

The Shattering of Glass

THE SHATTERING OF GLASS

Sometimes it shatters cleanly
along a jagged line
If you are careful,
avoid cutting yourself on the broken edge,
some pieces can be salvaged,
used again
Not all is lost

Sometimes it shatters surprisingly
An unseen starcrack,
a little tension,
the weak point accentuates,
the crack spreads
Finally it breaks
Safest to smash it first,
write off as a regrettable-only loss

But if carelessly you forget
first to anneal it,
the excited state is dangerously vulnerable
to a shattering
at the merest provocation
into many pieces
that fly and cut and hurt,
so that after the impolosion
wounds take a long time to heal
You might never fully recover

All dreams shatter sometime

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 14th April 1973

Publications

1987 The Old Police Station (UK)
1993 Dream International Quarterly (USA)

No Title (for William Oxley)

NO TITLE

(for William Oxley)

Meat that is not seasoned
is difficult to chew
is almost tasteless
The seasoning is only an addition
but serves a purpose
brings out the goodness of meat
that might not otherwise
be palatable

Too much obstructs

The heart of the flower
is bee-attracting seed
its sexual need for new
growth to replace the old
The petals bring the beauty
are only frills for noticing
what might not otherwise
be seen

But petals drop off

The bullseye's precision
is but the concentred
eye-directed consequence
of the sequence of circles
each one one removed
from formed location

It is only the tangents that touch

Tuesday 10 August 2010

(46)

any man may be
destroyed by death - the idea
of death may save him

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 1st March 1973

Publication

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

A Wife's Portrait

A WIFE'S PORTRAIT

for Mervyn Peake

And it was her love
brought forth his joy
who took leave on a forged pass
when a sergeant denied romance
to visit his love the just bearer
of their second child
The joy of their love
negated the army's medical rejection
invalided out meant home
to write to draw to make love
family willing sitters
for fairy-tale illustrations
The fame did not come easy
Harsh critics tore at a sensitive mind
Senility is a hard case
for the young to swallow in the young
And it was her love
that caused more anguish pain
at seeing him drained of the forces
that transformed inspiration
into poetry
She does not talk now
of those days
remembers not the homes that weren't
thinks more of tea rooms
a Chelsea attic a country cottage
and a man whose sickness was Age

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 20th February 1973

Publications

1974 Pennine Platform (UK)
1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1988 Iota (UK)
1997 Poetry Lounge (Internet)
2000 Sydney Mosaic (Internet)

Monday 9 August 2010

On The Death of The Actor

ON THE DEATH OF THE ACTOR

Why is it so dark in this theatre?
is the play over?
Has the audience gone?
Have the actors left the stage?
Why is this theatre so dark?

Your part in the play is over
The actors are still on stage
There has never been much of an audience
We have written out your part
You won't be replaced,
though there'll be others to follow
We still see the light
The darkness is your last, dying illusion

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 14th February 1973

Publications

1973 Wheels (UK)
1999 Black Creek Review (USA)

Sunday 8 August 2010

The Experiment

THE EXPERIMENT

The experiment
was conceived
out of two minds
not as a game
like chess
to give further excitement
exactness
two minds
so tuned together
they gave birth
to a single thought of death
And when one died
the other knew
not only the thoughts
of the dying
but for just a moment,
after the heart stopped,
before the blood of the brain
congealed,
the first telepathed thoughts
from beyond the point of death.
For a long time
he did not stir.
Did not
then
speak
but before he went
into the sleep that became
nonrecovering coma
he left two scribbled sheets,
the result of the experiment,
the sight of infinity.
She knew the content of the notes
even before they were removed
to her handbag.
Some weeks later a car
crashed on the motorway
the driver having fallen asleep at the wheel.
Some charred pieces of paper were found
in the burnt-out wreckage.
There was a half-smile on her face.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 3rd February 1973

Publications

1974 THE PURPLE HOURS (Manchester, Lisa Conessa)
1986 Raw Bone (USA)
1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)
1997 Dark Planet (Internet)
2014 Cosmopoetry (Internet)

The Way of the Brave

THE WAY OF THE BRAVE

I knew of your visit to the blacksmith
but did not guess the purpose of your purchase
He did a fine job,
mild steel tempered on an ancient anvil,
sharpened until the edge was no more than a micron thick
It was when you almost blinded me
with the sun's rays reflected in its shimmering blade
that I sensed the symbolism of the sword
There wasn't any need for you to speak
There wasn't any use for me to flee
I've left a bloody stain upon its blade
but you can smile
still in the condemned cell,
unafraid,
without the sword with which you murdered me

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 22nd January 1973

Publications

1973 Pennine Platform (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1990 International Poetry Suplemento (USA)

Saturday 7 August 2010

The Way of the Coward

THE WAY OF THE COWARD

It was your kiss
that killed me
It meant not love
but death,
a refusal to refuse,
cold, calculated, controlled,
not too much to excite
either passion or resistance
but enough only
to keep your victim
ready for the death
he was to die
in a slow agony
of bitter pain
It was by your kiss
that you murdered me

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 22nd January 1973

Publications

1973 Pennine Platform (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)

Portrait of the Girl

PORTRAIT OF THE GIRL

She is in love with her dream,
a dream that has substance
in flesh, blood, bloody flesh
Strong man, rich man, powerful man
Her love is real it is a dream
He is there, knows it, sends her
thousand dollar checks but he
does not send himself
His time can not be spared
from champagne balls,
from the filmstar goddesses

She rejects all other love
for undemanding dreams
that find kisses elsewhere
Her child uncle love
does not need physical gifts
Sex enough from wife number four
He takes only the toiling of her soul
over which he alone has power
Her unhealthy body is her own to give
as bait for others to boost an ego
totally separate from her dream

And when the substance of the dream
dies she will doubtless cry
But the tears won't wash the dream away
The grief will pass when the will's been read
And when her soul is at last set free
will it fly to new aesthetic heights
or fall into remnants of brick and mortar
and the filthy lucre that accrues ?
And will she take another love,
retreat into a comfortable, reliable post,
or live at last and dream no more ?

Friday 6 August 2010

(44) & (45)

his decisions might
be seen as the reactions
to situations

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 2nd January 1973

Publication

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

*****

too busy living
in the present to spare a
thought for the future

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 4th January 1973

Publication

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

The Sick Child

THE SICK CHILD

Woman weep
Weep for your child,
your child who is sick,
your child who is dying,
you child who will die
Weep
But she will not die yet
This sickness is not the end
She will recover from this
But weep woman
Weep
Comfort her too
She needs your comfort
She will not die yet
She was dying
the day she left your womb
She is dying now
Weep woman
Weep
Your child knows
that she will die
She is aware
of her real sickness
of which illness is but physical representation
She will die in other ways first
It is for this you must weep
Woman
Weep woman
The pain you felt in labour
is not to be compared with suffering,
that of she who is dying
but who will not die yet
Weep woman
The tears are for yourself,
you who bore this life
who is dying
Weep woman
Weep
The bed is warm
Your hand is warm
pressing upon hers
The fever is past now
There will be recovery soon
but not for the dying

Thursday 5 August 2010

(43)

no door can ever
be finally locked whilst there
are keys that will fit

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: London, 12th December 1972

Publication

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Winter

WINTER

We had our first snow today,
she said, in her letter
Winter had been a long time coming
We had waited for it,
expected it for months
whilst shed trees stood leafless,
the wind's bite grew colder,
the nights started in the afternoon
but despite two morning of frost
and the preparations for winter,
it wasn't to be felt in our bones
till now

We had always equated winter with snow
It began with the first snow's fall
and ended with the final thaw
Less time consistent
the snow
for us
was a more practical
definition
than that of any calendar

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st December 1972

Publication

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)

That Day

THAT DAY

Gillamoor looked great that day,
the done-heather brown over the hillside,
bare trees exposing the moor to view
Surprise View still surprises
by its continuing ability to do so
The low November sun sought out
the shades as numerous as the
lights of brown in your hair
That day I was not hurtling
down the motorway to meet you
I was cutting over the moors
to the North East's coast
It wasn't you I was meeting that day
but you'd have enjoyed the drive
and the subsequent lunch on the pier
by the sea

I did

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 11th November 1972

Publications

1974 Strath (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1988 Iota
1990 Verve (USA)
2007 MIND AND BODY (York, Fighting Cock Press)

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Left Foot Poem

LEFT FOOT POEM

I leave you here
now
before you leave me
You are about to go
I guess you knew
all the time
just what you would do
You tried so
to love me
but could never be true
with your right foot
in his world
and the wrong one in mine
I go now
before you do
I haven't the strength
to watch you go
I'll make it easy
for your reasoning
to accept your action
without remorse
There will be tears
in several eyes
both yours
and mine

Others will be happy

Fall

FALL

Six a.m.
The full early morning moon
lit my way to you
though the traffic was thick

Away the next morning
Four a.m.
The moon not yet risen
Beyond the city limits
the vehicles I shared
my twentyone miles of road with
numbered only seven
The last seven miles
I was completely alone
but for a cat that crossed my path
The leaves were fallen in the road
Brown windswirled leaves shone up in headlights,
crackled under tyres that trod on leafstrewn highways
The trees, shed now of clothes,
were naked in the dark,
exposed to the searching glare
of lights that shone
not with full intensity
through emotion-clouded glass,
yet clear enough to perceive
the new blossoming
that will occur come spring

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 1st October 1972

Publications

1973 ENVIRONMENT (Thames Ditton, Ember Press)
1974 Hyacinths & Biscuits (USA)
1994 Radio Void (USA)

Monday 2 August 2010

I Said I'd Never Been So Then I Went

I SAID I'D NEVER BEEN SO THEN I WENT

So this is Brighton
home of Dowdon, George
and sundry other socalled poets of lesser note
The beach is all pebbles
and none of them flat enough for skimming
They have a peculiar way too
of numbering the streets
consecutively up one side
and down again the other

I arrived in the dark

In the morning light I'll leave

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Brighton, 1st September 1972

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
2002 Blue Beat Jacket (Japan)

Whilst Waiting

WHILST WAITING

There were so many
beautiful girls about
walking around
I looked at them all
and thought of you
You were not there
amongst all those
beautiful girls
I could not find you
The motorway had been harsh
the climate warm
until the fog descended
around five a.m.
I could have stayed
but you were not there
I left
made fruitless phone calls
filled the car with petrol,
myself with tea,
drove down to the dead-end coast
watched the ocean's roar
I thought of you
in New York
or flying the Atlantic,
perhaps in Belgium,
in a train or maybe
even back in London now
and looking for me
I need you more than ever now
though you don't know why
nor can
Tomorrow I shall make retreat
to wait some more
but not to stand around
nor to serve for aught
less than return's totality

Sunday 1 August 2010

Closing Poem

CLOSING POEM

i could
have closed
the door
not let
you go

i left
it open
you left

i had hoped
you might
have stayed
the door
being open
you not
passing through

so as
you go
i only
ask
be careful
how you close
the door
behind
you

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st September 1972

Publications

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)
1992 Roads (UK)
1993 Quickenings (USA)

At Halftime

AT HALFTIME

I guess I always knew it couldn't be true
I only said what I knew I must
Only what I knew in my heart
over which I had so little control

No one told any lies of consequence
We saw the problems as they came
Saw through them No need to speak
of demolition and a falling

I used you like you use Laurie
You used me like Laurie uses you
Not that Laurie came between us
It was just ourselves and you and I

You want my love but need it less
I need your love but want it less
You rebel to try to loose yourself
I rebel to try to find myself

Go hide yourself in the busy city streets
and leave me to the wild high moors
We'll meet again and not by accident
There still will be no need to speak.

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 14th August 1972

Publication

1972 FOR HER VOLUME ONE (Pontefract, Poet's Press of Osgoldcross)