King’s Cureall
The primroses of the new world
stand high as a German Shepherd
are a lustier yellow and open
in the evening, so there’s no hurry.
Land is endlessly rolling
waiting for you to stake a claim,
grab your pegs and garden string
there will be no mortgage, no rent.
The weather, mild and sunny,
will greatly improve your complexion,
the late night corner store has a trestle
of wholesome vegetables in the dark.
All the insects are exciting, stag-beetles,
pied ladybirds, grasshoppers.
Hospital workers soap the floor
like debutantes making-up their faces.
Soldiers shine ceremonial uniforms,
build rope swings which fling
out into the river, each day judged
by a rising audience of flowers.
Holly Hopkins
(From Herbarium, a new poetry anthology. Launch and reading 22 July)
No Comments so far ↓