Halcyon Ghosts Read online

  an alternative happiness grazes rock bottom (like endless rock exhibited)

  a reconnaissance, moving, tracking age . . .

  the team applied a patina, running in the torturous wind (so long Rodin)

  humans project the interior, seek definite articles : indefinite lamps, to

  be used if only the moon healthy in the next world rises: an essence of

  deceased peoples without any paraphernalia; we can only conclude that in

  death, as in life . . . beads, flecks of the ice-tail . . .

  ... interned, burly bearded

  Mr Zui a botanist-zoologist tasted it, arranging studies by radar and

  radio telescopes . . . frequencies reset the sleep-O-matic . . . O how

  it internalises voices . . . O how its presence sharks, and silver jacks

  shutter: tiny fish guard historical reasons, and the worldly home spits

  out simple configurations, like winging into the evening’s fractured

  yellow . . . languishing beneath the framed module; how it marked the

  first stitches (like red sutures threading the Alaska Range) Anchorage

  engaging from one end: unearthed, a salt-mine man sleeping as numerous

  kings who had fallen on the fallowed year, the rare golden (sunset) with

  its widespread digits: at the edge of town an anachronism: covered,

  rediscovered plastic figurines . . .

  Broken Architecture

  If existence is structured

  this colourful dust conquers and divides

  its haughty composure

  elation; this heart aches

  it was quite a rare thing to slide across grass

  bellicose, consider the earth

  to seize shadows I grab them by the sleeve

  re-collection some lamp-like filament

  faces reawaken, rooted alone in a happy home

  neck turns, travelling to rejoin the spine

  every movement beneath the moon

  squeaky space : displacement

  ...

  kind of mesmerising, a thoughtful yes

  answer: wait for me in the gardenias

  hurry the list away, in no mood to barge in

  a face has been drowned, dragged below

  surely to utter no word, good or bad: stopped quite still

  with a case history he knelt down

  eyes downcast, no sign of love and pleasantries

  a cheer that might have been smiling

  we heard a guitar strumming

  a guilty turn, thinking how cheerful

  how respectful, how tangled, and how much loved by many

  shall I go back and notate that thought?

  or may I stay and tell you about the (g) olden days

  ...

  nail her voice:

  bone-flute, soft . . . ko_auau

  if music could surface

  listen: let a moist eye overflow

  so earnest and particular, rinse

  the bright light : drive the green fuse

  strike out against whimsy

  how can we ever rest

  news calls the dead hour-after-hour

  vistas trace famous expressions

  I remember the poet

  learning to turn his face from the anxious door

  symbols compact scent: tantalising

  ...

  no exchange, no . . . not quite tongue yet

  to hear your song, chance words spoken

  left in the alphabet soup

  only a week ago inked heaven

  the owner shakes his head

  gives a shape to, hammers out compositions

  the character of this story is easily rendered

  (a mystery most profound)

  why waste tears or feign sorrow

  worry, when skin must be glad

  she mutters, paces to and fro . . . alone

  each branch will touch

  tell of

  what is to be done without disclosure

  reactions have not paid dividends

  a cough freezing a moment

  hammered home in any direction . . .

  nearly, and then falling back upon ground

  ...

  a drawer opens through broken architecture

  under breath we shall arrive at

  the straight : stripped water course

  a whole configuration wired and attached

  difficulty in finding words to protest

  (email transmits this attachment)

  to dress, quit the slow boat’s relief

  too kick and knock fails to get recognition

  enter afterwards : remaindered

  in synchronicity the memorable interview

  steel is voiceless, such a devil of a swipe

  apparatus our benefactor: I am tired, vocabulary deflated

  broadcasts gave occasion to good-natured recollections

  sang of, and joked by,

  then half-a-dozen turned and answered, very low:

  no one will ever whip the sea flat

  no one

  ...

  so very strangely, rejoin in a low act: label voice

  (scarcely audible) I will map, tell you, say by-the-way, open the book,

  wait for a while . . .

  delay: wing bending down to bruise the child

  believe me, I desire to see you safe

  a little wild-life winter is hard to bear

  pride sustains: had it been above board

  we could watch the hilarious stitch reign

  a box of matches strikes the mention of her name

  light touches her arm: turn blind

  your enemy (who the story tries to catch out)

  to destroy this peace, to poison, to control this experience

  religion wears that shoed smile

  ...

  stars start up angrily : gleaming : fixed

  thunder it spat throughout the night

  tea was drunk: there is innocence in refreshment

  to join the cause we will go abroad,

  (or frame the mission)

  till the storm blows over, stand on this spot

  jump from the wall : follow grown companions

  the heart is inclined to jest

  shake the obnoxious foundations of memory

  where the sob ended, speech stole the liquid present

  some entrance must haunt us:

  who are the elated swelled others?

  openness, comfort indeed

  I have been afraid of the thing you said

  ...

  after the accident, the brain’s cheerful spell

  consider the rotten scheme

  (the author recognised the line’s powerful agent)

  I will forgive reason, this dishonourable act

  but I cannot forget it (intend to observe it,

  to stop the worn competition)

  the head-wind spins, plays with human fortunes

  mixes up the memories of old men

  tradition: an old friend in close proximity

  full, fake balance,

  glad to believe there used to be . . .

  a glorious escape, the hammer voice strikes ////

  what brings this crazy planet alive

  ... the cymbiform moon?

  ...

  will they map it again

  secret machines juggle numbers

  notions: a thought, calculated to zero

  profit speaks with whipped earnestness

  dog and fire recall present trouble

  to shake in the sun-flame furnace

  that never-never curve failed to rise

  I think you must be inside it: rain bandied its weather

  launches a false report

  infernal : inferno, nobody has dressed down

  eager his panache made others squeal

  rise immediately, anticipate and ask

  what is driving you (pause) speak

  de
struction one-eyed; inclement

  nothing rash in the diamond whisper

  quiet: let moist skies overflow; but no need to lecture

  ...

  the dog sprang up to fetch,

  arm struck out to overthrow a commanding gesture

  startling rapidity of strange incidents

  knit this notion, be aware of promises

  instinctively distrust butyric words

  the stealthily indignation galvanised opinion

  ...

  figures bump, balance an attitude of indexes

  an even hand is a smothered tone

  wild on any terms observe this thread

  a tour de force, as I listen at the window

  turn for one last glimpse

  the echo hears nothing

  let the tall poppy pass

  returning to the outer oval

  witness the tortured treetops; reception casts thought

  aligning and moving gracefully

  pass a hat, straighten that flower

  surmise a great controversy:

  whose image dwells in the memory of motion?

  insight some type of great petite idea

  history represents an amiable allotment

  objects always robust, admired and agreeable

  the inevitable lot of humanity

  snatch to fit the slave of routine

  organisation sowed the restless ant colony

  ...

  birds position poles

  present what is elevated : frenetic : still

  what is to be told: mind is made up to take flight

  what if your command will burst-forth, if you give nothing

  beyond the eye’s glittering gateway

  reflection flees the moment of arrival

  blazing across the prairie, the fire horse traveller

  to reflect, embrace the flood that time consumes

  where the roof rises, boats sail

  parturient hope subtracts importance

  you look for belief . . . it’s not so outrageous

  I am a stranger

  guests terminate this conversation

  ...

  becoming scarlet

  from the south the travelling carriage

  x-rays are anterior

  (to bear away the happy imagination)

  embrace: you could scarcely describe this prison

  a hunch, an encouraging age of corruption

  I would faint plain sailing across the whispering universe

  in a green tea valley, direction contiguous,

  district of factories . . . no space,

  that unbalanced history

  ...

  existence answerable

  the morning was fine, rhyme clear, crystal-

  line

  a soft western breeze

  the starting-post was about here

  the attack: fork-lightning flashed . . . scintillated

  from every quarter of the frame, horizon bruised,

  black thunder broke over earth

  to have never felt it in its fullness

  now, never hush . . . hush, secrets

  nothing but idle gossip in your neck of the woods

  ...

  frantically trying to remember the message

  in my last note, helplessness

  and what foregoes this conclusion

  a moment dries once more

  do negatives freeze light in motion?

  it drives me up the wall . . . gently, it’s dangerous

  not because this work was ill conceived: partly executed

  amid deciduous glades, amongst flowering galleries, curves often cir-

  cular . . .

  ...

  cannot hold it closed, shut it within

  this structure myself: shine-forth

  not yet a mine, a door silent

  strange . . . foreboding,

  that it never transmutes a few general words of assent

  necessary to grip an ugly vision: don’t complicate

  maybe it seems shallow to know what to do

  colour flushed from face, comical and lost

  tears stood in eyes, moment arranging belief

  blink, and all that sleep : black : awake,

  fragile figure; for, though

  frozen, sound rightfully unearths

  meaning, a watchful mind, mouth becomes page

  ...

  I have endeavoured to picture something

  to develop out loudly

  portrait hanging, angled, re-

  set, eye-levelled: see . . . mix-it-up

  (a pace or two towards the door)

  flight is evident:

  the suicidal career of what idea was then up-

  tight, styled on this occasion, heart circulates

  finding itself a home

  desire, very likely tomorrow’s attraction

  point to a word : a figure . . . high-

  lights, characters of this familial history

  ...

  why is the driving mind sitting still?

  rested, posterity shatters the body

  twilight an example of illumination

  to cross the bridge I recognise nothing

  flight made this place

  the finely arched brow . . . a little elevated

  grey dark rain; eyes fully opened

  encouraging mental competitors

  the frame has ridden underground

  faithfully glanced at the brook

  with the eye-lid folding in the midst

  of this key, deep communion

  sentiment kettles this light,

  if only to enchain and frighten.

  for Karl Stead (who excavated Dylan Thomas from the rubble)

  A Strange Harvest . . . A

  SEISMIC SEA WAVE

  a crescent phase : a compass rose

  a trail of words in the heart of a plant

  let’s not mince words: pollen is plant sperm

  tiny algae making sea water appear the colour of wine

  vivid .................................................

  sparks in golden lines joined at a star

  even in death, dem bones are washed in red wine

  proboscis monkeys pick their way through thickets of mangrove

  2

  INLAND [ ] Is-land: a detached home

  incorrigible

  herons plus one fish

  equals

  a flapping squabble over property rights

  workers strip picture tubes from laughter

  little girls from broken records

  recycled domestic couples indulge in moments of twilight romance

  cockpits enter a potentially deadly practice . . .

  3

  death is a little podcast . . .

  ALLERGY GIRL

  at night she dreams of spiders and insects

  (hints of early human migration : hints of prehistoric failure)

  borne to her burial, allergy girl speaks a condensed version:

  Apsara

  originally came to me in a flower

  ... Apsara, a celestial attendant ... this mimetic spider un-

  threading a world dredged land reclaimed

  where engineers nor mystics could stem the flow

  where informal e-waste is processed

  (spammed at a proximity to humans at .com)

  a strange harvest . . . a potential home for life

  4

  SIX MONTHS alone in a cave

  ... who seeks to satisfy a spiritual hunger?

  ... who will answer directly?

  waiting for them to come out

  I used to be ashamed living here

  (there is unbearable) but what else can I do?

  this house creates a strategy

  forms play out in the shadow of fiery peaks

  same spot: sandy, barren, and bone-dry

  creatures novel to science as they are to the eye

  ... s
cientists say it’s inductive searching for signs

  a bold new try for the top . . .

  a step into a world where gods displayed their powers

  5

  Å

  (above)

  10,000 WINGS

  reflections flee one lightning bolt

  rush of wings welcomes the dawn

  we who face death are becoming strangers

  who stuck his head into a seal’s breath?

  a question mark crosses the Arctic

  ............?

  ................FLOOD................

  to ride inflate (glimpse)

  hundreds . . . of . . . thousands . . . of . . . bubbles

  precious waters mirror a passing of canyons

  a magical city

  more a dormitory town now

  bowls regularly played in parks

  two local bands: one the Salvation Army

  6

  a mushroom cloud of stone erupts

  ... morals become personal and he is born

  JOHN DIAMOND

  a blind scholar

  a well-known traveller

  best known for promoting the use of the umbrella

  he pretends to his son

  insights are undeniably interesting

  (practical skills with some formal learning)

  living a forlorn existence