Eclipse Sequence

ECLIPSE SEQUENCE

January 9th 2001

*

bright full moon
shines through thin cloud
~ a plane flies over

*

the shadow bites ~
level with big planets
Capella shines

*

four-fifths gone
more stars appear
Venus fades

*

from her sick-bed
my wife watches the action
on television

*

frosty night ~
deep red disc
in Gemini

*

light rays spread
to Pollux and Castor
~ crescent emerges

*

half moon
Procyon and Sirius
twinkle low

*

small shadow left
the biting wind
sends me indoors

*

the whole moon
south in winter sky
~ curtains close

*

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 9th January 2001

Publications

2001 ROMANIAN CONTEMPORARY ASTROPOETRY 2001 (Targoviste, SARM)
2006 Other Voices (Internet)
2007 Ackworth born, gone West (Internet)

*****
SECVENTELE ECLIPSEI
de Gerald England
(in romaneste de Andrei Dorian Gheorghe)

*

luminoasa luna plina
straluce prin nor subtire-
un avion zboara deasupra-i

*

umbra musca
nivel cu mari planete
Capella straluceste

*

patru-cinci duse
mai multe stele apar
Venus se ofileste

*

din patu-i de boala
sotia mea priveste actiunea
la televizor

*

noapte inghetata
disc rosu adanc
in Gemenii

*

raze de lumina se raspandesc
spre Castor si Pollux-
crescente rasarind

*

luna jumatate
Procyon si Sirius
licaresc incet

*

mica umbra scade
vantul muscator
ma trimite inauntru

*

luna intreaga
sud in cer de iarna-
cortinele se trag


Publications

2001 Astronautica (Romania)
2002 SARM News (Internet)
2007 Ackworth born, gone West (Internet)

Rent a Bench

RENT A BENCH

rent a bench

can i put it anywhere?
sit down whenever my feet
go on strike?

can i choose between wood
and iron?
plain or ornate?
what colours can i paint it?

can i share it with
wannabe sweethearts?

can i eat my lunchtime sandwiches
in the cool of a grove?

can i take an option to renew
in the spring?



what!

i cannot move it
use it
alter it?

only advertise on it!

i’ve half a mind
to sue you
for misrepresentation

do you know the number
of a good bench solicitor?

© Gerald England

Composed: Los Angeles, 12th November 1999

Publications

2001 Green's Magazine (Canada)
2006 Other Voices (Internet)

Time Trilogy

TIME TRILOGY

(1)

On the cave wall
Trog draws his vision
of a future world
where his art
is arrowed
to the moon
then relayed
by boomerang
to a being
on the underside
of the earth

(2)

Wilma is wondering
on her way back from the Pterodactyl Ball
whether future generations will forget them
or even choose to ignore their inventions
only to reinvent them all from the beginning again.
She has been having this recurring nightmare
in which some catastrophe destroys them
leaving only the dinosaurs alive
to carry their culture
to future generations

(3)

the tracks of the time traveller
unearthed by archaeologists
spawn several theories
two new religious sects
a university honours degree
a professor’s resignation
and a slim volume of poems

© Gerald England

Composed: Salford, 20th July 1998

Publications

2000 Pennine Platform (UK)
2006 Other Voices (Internet)

*****
TRILOGIA TIMPULUI

(1)
Pe peretele pesterii
Trog deseneaza viziunea
unei lumi viitoare
in care arta sa
tinteste
catre luna
apoi retransmisa
ca un boomerang
unei fiintei
din strafundurile
pamantului.

(2)
Wilma se intreaba
pe drumul de intoarcere de la jocul de pterodactyl
daca generatiile urmatoare ii vor uita
sau vor prefera sa le ignore inventiile
doar pentru a le reinventa.
Are acest recurent cosmar
in care vreo catastrofa ii distruge
lasand doar dinosaurii in viata
pentru a le perpetua cultura
generatiilor urmatoare.

(3)
Urmele calatorilor in timp
neacoperite de arheologi
nasc cateva teorii
doua secte religioase
un titlul universitar
demisia unui profesor universitar
si un volum subtire de poezii.

GERALD ENGLAND

Romanian translations by Octavian Blaga and Florentin Smarandache

Publication

2000 The Fifth Season (Romania)

Writing the Cheque

WRITING THE CHEQUE

Loneliness is a biro pen and no paper.
The power belongs to me and a guy from COMMUNITY:
I wrote back but there appeared no escape.
I borrowed another drink. Anyway, he was marooned.
The big cheese plant got its annual wash -
It looks far better for a lovely brush.
It's ridiculous to speculate.
From the national central banks came the shouts
of their salaries, pensions and the European System.
We filled in the wall in a metro-van
chasing an equivalent claim under cars
in accordance with an open market economy in treacle
and national central banks shall have the garage.
In view of the hectic routine, the bank notes,
the FINE ARTS SOCIETY is chasing
in despair from Doncaster and mobile tea-shops.
We go to Byres Rd TESCO; children are playing.
We get hamburgers - an efficient allocation of food.
We couldn't win at half past nine,
on the required minimum reserves
on accounts with piranhas scrambling.
Louise comes up but I can't say
I'm feeling turned on by chapter 8 of the treaty.
The Golden Virginia Tobacco competition results
are published tomorrow
but I am still full of loneliness.
Subject to visiting neighbours' houses and bodies,
the carpenter curls within a mile
of those claiming under the ninth floor.
Let me introduce you.
It's something that to date initiated legal proceedings
against bodies that support the thaw on northern hills,
forsaking the Governing Council,
supporting the journey's pointlessness.
Visitors go to town on the council,
in the smooth conduct of a letter.
Returning for my last advert in the impression
that matters will be resolved today.
Ah well, in the morning perhaps.
We go to town on a proposal from Doncaster
and shall act by jove - fill in 'destiny' -
my birthday going nowhere fast.
The worst of money - a bounced cheque.

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 17th October, 1992

Publications

1994 Radio Void (USA)
2006 Other Voices (Internet)

Amber Gambler

AMBER GAMBLER

I can't stop now
the whips are at my back
I can't stop now
the time's not there to rest and look
The dog is barking, the baby cries,
the postman is knocking at the door
I can't stop now
the milk is boiling over
Though butter clogs in my arteries
I'll keep on trying
to answer the phone
go seeking more
from those who want themselves to stop
If I don't stop soon
I'll spin through the hole
at the bottom of the whirlpool
or crash over the cliff
The wolves are chasing me
I can't stop now
Will I need a pension
or just a box?
How can I dream
if I never sleep?
The lights are on
perpetual amber
I am gonna stop
but not now

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Oldham, 22nd March 1991

Publications

1996 PENNINE TRACKS (Heckmondwike, Fighting Cock Press)
1997 Dream Forge Poetry Lounge (Internet)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
2006 Other Voices (Internet)
2007 MIND AND BODY (York, Fighting Cock Press)

Nidderdale

NIDDERDALE

Bedraggled daffodils line the lanes
unnerved by April snows.
Only the curlew crying on the fell,
the short-eared owl stationed on his post,
know that summer still will come
as surely as the growing lambs will go.

By the lake where a myriad mosquitos hum,
only the bravest rabbit boasts
of the ability to foretell
how strong will be the wind's abuse,
how many elms will no longer grow
to offer shelter to the homeless crow.

© Gerald England

Composed: Ripley Castle, 23rd April 1989

Publications

1991 Hybrid (UK)

1991 Owen Wister Review (USA)

1992 STEALING KISSES (Hyde, New Hope International)

1992 International Poetry (USA)

2000 NO CHOICE BUT TO TRUST (Pittsburgh, UnMon America)

2006 Other Voices (Internet)