Friday, April 05, 2013

A grammar à propos of nothing


About us
This line tells you
what we want you to know

about this line of business
the business of which
is the mind alone

and it tells how things rest
in a jumbled order
like the pronunciation of English

But further it speaks of
resounding words
presented on behalf of

revenants and figments
of disorderly souls
Announcing our distinction from the rest

we wish you to understand
that poems are but dreams
riddled with words

                                         Grant Duncan 19.1.04

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

A tiny scent of smoke


A tiny scent of smoke
pockets of distant fire work

and a chopper cuts the dark
into the rhythm of its blades

That melancholy celebration
is a feast of burning leaves

and its restless audience
wishes for light and dance

Seagulls panic
Lear beckons

The zoo disgorges its guests
Disturbing air on black sky

signals shocking freedom
Those who were attending carefully this night

will recall it as exposed as
a scary bend on the old road down

Colours make more sense now
and sleep obscures print

but the fading season fades
despite the call never to end


     Grant Duncan, 8.3.13