Poetry

Poetry

Mist and fire

Posted by Tim Lenton on 13 November 2004 at 10:08

Tags: fire mist

I live in mist and look at fire
I take the kiss and touch the wire

The mist is cold upon my cheek
The fire I see plays hide and seek

I cannot pin the fire down
The mist is all around the town

The mist is changing shapes for me
It shows me things I like to see

The fire is hard to understand
It blazes forth and burns my hand

The mist relieves the fire in me
The fire outside waits patiently

The mist attempts to hide the flames
With hit and run and fun and games

I hold the mist and love the fire
And one is true and one's a liar

Tim Lenton

Annette Rolston's image appears on the front page of the book of Tim's poetry collection, Mist and Fire.

Comment on: Mist and fire

Soul swimmer

Posted by Tim Lenton on 11 November 2004 at 10:06

Tags: island sea

I lie on the sand
Where you stripped chaos from me
Cupped my heart in your hand
Like a feather

Together we fed at the edge of the sea
No further
Your hair splashed over me
Tongues touching and leaving

Now I haunt the island
A shadow that falls
And you are two birds
Flying towards the dawn

Tim Lenton

Poet's comment: Here the images in the poem bear a very strong correlation with Annette's picture. I was able to respond in a direct way to what she had done, and I think the poem and the picture work well together, amplifying each other.

Comment on: Soul swimmer

Confidence

Posted by Rupert Mallin on 4 November 2004 at 12:29

Tags: confidence news paper

she was
as confident as
the path is
as the road signs are
as her star sign is
as water is
as a sheet of paper is

as newsprint is &
confidence stole her away &
ate into her pathway &
bypassed June &
froze her footsteps &
turned her map into wires &

took her words from the paper
but all the words she learnt told her to hang on
so she

H
U
N
G

O
N

she was as
confident as
the path is
as the road signs are
as her star sign is
as water is
as a sheet of paper is

as newsprint is &
confidence stole her away &
ate into her pathway &
bypassed June &
froze her footsteps &
turned her map into wires &

took her words from the paper
but all the words she learnt told her to hang on
so she

H
U
N
G

Rupert Mallin

Comment on: Confidence

Sins of Omission

Posted by Tim Lenton on 3 September 2004 at 12:42

Tags: cliff coast lindisfarne

He lies in the hollow of smooth white rock
worn down, watching her
adjust her clothes.

Sharp wind stipples her skin:
hips rise and fall.
Out there the tide hesitates, wondering
if it can decently return.

Years ago, wreckers crouched here
lighting false fires
altering lives
Now the white flame
warns all who sail close.

She puts on her sandals
and smiles at him: behind her
a broken tree.

They climb back up the coloured cliffs
as tongues of water push in.
He offers her his hand.

Pause: clean canvas.
Sins washed away.
Nothing happened here.

Tim Lenton

Poet's comment I spent a few days one May in retreat on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. I fell in love with the bleak northern beaches and spent some time there. It was during one of these solitary walks that the idea for this rather enigmatic poem came to me, as I watched the tide rising and falling and saw the shapes it made in the rocks and stones. The idea of cleansing of sins followed, but the ending is playfully provocative. The link with Annette's image came later.

Comment on: Sins of Omission