(c4)

and i used to en-
joy philosophy until
i discovered sex

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Oldham, 1st October 1974

Publication

1981 Magma (UK)

Rivington Castle

RIVINGTON CASTLE

We were not the only ones
to drive down the river,
discover the vast arena
of unmapped stone
Forty miles to the west
the sun lit the sea
From terraced walls
we surveyed the land between
Terrace upon terrace upon terrace
descended from the tower
past the weedgrown bath
arched over a stonestrewn track;
beneath each wall a
wilderness of peace
In the amphitheatre
a lady in white had camped
Each tree became a soldier
water oozing like blood
from neglected wounds
This fortress
manned by three legions
is left unfenced, unsigned
for the venturesome to find

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Oldham, 30th June 1974

Publication

1975 Pennine Platform (UK)

(c2)

a cabbage should not
be despised for at least it
continues to grow

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Droitwich, 23rd June 1974

Publication

1990 Prophetic Voices (USA)

(c1)

those people who eat
biscuits in bed shall sleep on
the crumbs that remain

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Droitwich, 23rd June 1974

Publication

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

Two Souls United Make One Angel

TWO SOULS UNITED MAKE ONE ANGEL

Quietly a hospital lost another patient
while a son was being driven
to his sick father's side too late
It was Sunday but the wrong time of the month
and a woman ill at home in bed
waited the return of the driver
Somewhere in a distant bed
the mother of his child
was mourning for herself
Another mother left her sick child
to attend the bereaved
on a warm afternoon walk
Sympathy saturated souls
sought out the threads that bound
That afternoon
at least one angel was made

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Shaw, 24th April 1974

Publications

1986 Quickenings (USA)
1991 Omnific (USA)
1998 The Wings of an Angel (Internet)
2002 Poetry Chain (India)

House Hunting

HOUSE-HUNTING

In the little Methodist chapel
edging on to the moor
the couple drank tea,
preparing themselves for a journey,
the rock-backed house only
yards away their hope
A staircase spiralled skyward
The pure melodic line
of the chattering chaffinch
was harmonised only by the ivy,
climbing like a solicitor's beard
enveloping hollow walls
There was nothing to fear in the reservoir
bursting its dam in the next valley
A choir sang in the crystal water
The couple drank deep

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Shaw, 24th April 1974

Publications

1974 Intak' (UK)
1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1988 Aireings (UK)

The Stones of Grewelthorpe Moor

THE STONES OF GREWELTHORPE MOOR

There there were stones,
glacier-deposited on Grewelthorpe Moor,
stones shaped like door posts
too big for a man alone to move,
but for a group of men to move,
no monumental task.
It was a man from Kirby Malzeard
needed doorposts,
wanted the stones.
The other men had pledged him their help.
It was not the men of Grewelthorpe
who needed the stones.
The stones that were there
were their stones.
No other needful men could have
what they, one day, might need.
The stones stayed,
were not removed from the moor.
Doorposts were quarried elsewhere,
machined and transported.
The stones were never used.
They lie there now,
shaped by the wind -
weathered monuments
to the men of Grewelthorpe's greed.

© GERALD ENGLAND.

Composed: Sheffield, 14th April 1974

Publication

1984 The Old Police Station (UK)

Beyond The Sun

BEYOND THE SUN

Beyond the sun
beyond Andromeda
beyond the black holes of the Anti-Thou
in the white light of eternity
our souls will mate
You sit beside me in the car
The slow policeman
whom I dare to overtake
on the motorway
is en route to a rugby match
I do not know who won or lost
There is fog on the tops
returning
This time I do not dare
to overtake
I put my trust in the eternal Thou
And beyond the sun
or in an upstairs room
I am not afraid of the Anti-Thou
I shall continue the journey
with you beside me
We shall proceed
protected
travelling at a safe speed
We shall fall into no black holes
In the white light of eternity
our souls will mate

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 12th February 1974

Publications

1994 International Poetry (USA)
1997 Dark Planet (Internet)

Destitute Woman

DESTITUTE WOMAN,
AFTER PABLO PICASSO

Art Gallery of Ontario

       The woman is seated
                  leaning
                          almost
       against the blankness of the wall
       She is covered entirely in her cloak
       Her eyes are closed in sleep
       her pale face tilted
       From the closeknitted brow
       runs her sharp bone nose
       to a tight mouth that is not smiling
       Her hands are closed beneath her cloak
       She remains here
                 nearly
                        sleeping
       Her tiredness
       is what binds her to the world
       which itself is closed in tiredness
                               to her

© Gerald England

Composed: Sheffield, 2nd February 1974

Publications

1980 Leeds & Harrogate Graphic (UK)
1980 PENNINE ANTHOLOGY 1980 (Huddersfield, Woodhead Publications)
1991 Apostrophe (UK)
1992 Quickenings (USA)
1994 Purple Pastiche (UK)
1998 Ygdrasil (Internet)

[5j]

© Gerald England

Composed: Royd Moor, 30th January 1974

Publication

1991 Peace & Freedom (UK)

The Rainbow

THE RAINBOW

There hadn't always been a rainbow
only it was there when needed
impressing itself upon her
needful or not
She wanted the rainbow
even though she never saw
seven colours clear
Sometimes and it was usually winter
she could distinguish five
But mostly there were three
with a merging in between
Inside there was violet -
flowers and blossom when his kiss
gave bloom to her becoming
In the middle of it all the blue
of the clear sea on the sand-dunes
where they had loved when she
no longer liked him coming to her bed
The tide had rolled over them
as they heated the night
into the outer red of passion
and the violence of tearing apart
She had wanted the rainbow
It was real
She had analysed the spectrum
measured every wavelength
knew it as she could only know a man
But she wanted more than the rainbow
She wanted the pot of gold
that was not of the rainbow
but lay beyond its end
She did not find her pot of gold
She had by then destroyed the rainbow
She had lost reality for the wanting of a dream

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 11th January 1974

Publications

1977 Pennine Platform
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)
1997 Poetry Today OnLine (Internet)

The First Poem of 1974

THE FIRST POEM OF THE NEW YEAR

Somewhere I saw a Southwest wind
and I heard a sun rise in the distance
These are the only signs
of an Early Spring
The year is but a few days old
It has been a frosty start
Winter has still to accomplish her work
So little seems to change
So much continues as before
One day seems much like another
I should not have given the old year such a kick with my boot
I cannot welcome the New Year with bruised toes
It deserves better,
especially if there is to be an Early Spring
There is ice lying on the upper moor
I slipped and fell,
rolled in the brittle standing grass,
grazed my knee on a hard rock
The injury has healed
but even in the valley there is no heat
I want to warm the New Year with kisses,
to give it my whole body,
but I have been deaf to the rising of the sun
and blind to the Southwest wind
I will throw all that remains
on the fire
I shall use all the fuel at my command
I will force the fire to burn
It will be an Early Spring

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Sheffield, 1st January 1974

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1989 Working Titles (UK)
1999 Helicon (UK)