The Last Time Ever

THE LAST TIME EVER

1 am peering through blackness
2 am i feel your heart pounding
3 am your fingers running up my spine
4 am my beard between your breasts
5 am sun rising over the pyramid
6 am ordering coffee and toast
7 am showering together
8 am locking both suitcases
9 am spreading marmalade on bacon
10 am clouds gather over the street
11 am the sound of steamboats on the river
noon black smoke from belching buses
1 pm gunshot heard in the desert
2 pm you tell me not to cry
3 pm at the Art Gallery not looking at portraits
4 pm eating ice-cream in the park
5 pm the drive to the airport
6 pm holding on to your passport
7 pm watching the DC10 climbing
8 pm falling asleep in the departure lounge
9 pm a taxi back to the city
10 pm the silence in the room
11 pm closing the curtain
midnight will last for ever.


© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 25th May 1998

Publications

1998 The Writer's Challenge (Internet)
1999 Purple Patch (UK)
2007 Famous Poets and Poems (Internet)

*****
ULTIMA DATA

1 a.m. strapung cu privirea intunericul
2 a.m. iti simt inima batand
3 a.m. degetele tale de-a lungul coloanei vertebrale
4 a.m. barba mea pe pieptul tau
5 a.m. soarele rasarind peste piramida
6 a.m. comandand cafea si un toast
7 a.m. dusul impreuna
8 a.m. intingand marmelada pe sunca
9 a.m. norii se aduna peste strada
10 a.m. sunetul vapoarelor pe rau
amiaza .fum negru din autobuse
1 p.m. foc de arma in desert
2 p.m. imi spui sa nu plang
3 p.m. la Galeria de Arta evitand portrete
4 p.m. mancand inghetata in parc
5 p.m. cursa/drumul la aeroport
6 p.m. nedespartit de pasaportul tau
7 p.m. privind DC10 urcand
8 p.m. adormind in sala de asteptare
9 p.m. un taxi la intoarcerea in oras
10 p.m. linistea camerei
11 p.m. tragand draperia
miezul noptii va dura pentru totdeauna.

GERALD ENGLAND

Romanian translations by Octavian Blaga and Florentin Smarandache

Unpublished?

Gone Not Gentle

GONE NOT GENTLE

on spindrift pages
from the raging moon he wrote
for heedless lovers

by St.Martin's Church
poetry pilgrims honour
a simple white cross

at the Lamb & Flag
talk is of a drunken poet
stripping off his shirt

in the U.S.A.
professors then young students
recall his last lecture

curtains still open
in a thousand small theatres
to Under Milk Wood

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 15th December 1993

Publications

1994 Purple Patch (UK)
1994 Current Accounts (UK)
1998 LIMBO TIME (Hyde, New Hope International)
1998 Black Creek Review (USA)
1998 Perihelion (Internet)
1998 Black Creek Review (Internet)

[5n]

Composed: Gee Cross, 20th January 1990

 Publications

1990 The Affiliate (Canada)
1991 Purple Patch (UK)

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)