Four Poems about Porpoises
I
Swallows in leotards
Burrowing holes
Submarine termites
Quicksilver moles
Dazzling galleries
Spiralling aisles
Daydreams in sunlight
Sinking for miles
Hurtling shuttles
Trip up and flee –
Porpoises, weaving
A shot-silk sea.
II
In operation Silent Sails
For submarines at sea last night
The porpoises, on fire with fright
Blew every tube in Fylingdales.
III
I take one look and I know I’m dreaming –
Planing fins and the colour streaming
Boundary layers in the mind.
I take a breath and I’m sure I’m stalling –
Looping blades and the harvest falling:
Grain blown back like a bugle calling
Light brigades along the wind.
I take my ease and I’m scared I’m ageing –
Stunting jets and a war game raging;
Seas are riddled, undermined.
I take my leave and I know I’m crying
Tears I’ll be a lifetime drying,
The tree house down and the peach tree dying
Home behind.
IV
Porpoises move
Through tunnels of love.
Swallows in leotards
Burrowing holes
Submarine termites
Quicksilver moles
Dazzling galleries
Spiralling aisles
Daydreams in sunlight
Sinking for miles
Hurtling shuttles
Trip up and flee –
Porpoises, weaving
A shot-silk sea.
II
In operation Silent Sails
For submarines at sea last night
The porpoises, on fire with fright
Blew every tube in Fylingdales.
III
I take one look and I know I’m dreaming –
Planing fins and the colour streaming
Boundary layers in the mind.
I take a breath and I’m sure I’m stalling –
Looping blades and the harvest falling:
Grain blown back like a bugle calling
Light brigades along the wind.
I take my ease and I’m scared I’m ageing –
Stunting jets and a war game raging;
Seas are riddled, undermined.
I take my leave and I know I’m crying
Tears I’ll be a lifetime drying,
The tree house down and the peach tree dying
Home behind.
IV
Porpoises move
Through tunnels of love.