Michael Harlow

Meditation With Objects

for Christopher Middleton

Squat pot, earth dug;
peppermill with militant handle
& dizziness of the Swiss clock
shadow the window, blue haze
so electric the morning watch they
threaten a march to the frontier.

In the children’s room
armed with the alphabet
stalks a patchwork hunter
stuffed with the shapes of tomorrow.
They rise & flick waking lids,
tatting the air with dreams
of sleek bombers & jellied fire.

Stone jar cools the black fruit.
A torn pomegranate spills beads
that chain us to the table.
A tank rolls from its shadow.
The city hums – is shuttered
against legs that will dangle
in the square tomorrow.

From Events, Greece 1967–1974 (Anglo-Hellenic Publishing, 1975)

© Michael Harlow
 

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Last updated 20 March, 2005