In The Poetry

‘Manhire’ is originally a Cornish name, and I knew the Cornish poet Charles Causley quite well, and when he died I wrote this little poem in his memory. He lived on a street called Cyprus Well in Launceston.

Death of a Poet

Between the Tamar and the tarmac,
Beneath a tangled sky
I saw the Cornish poet
Walking by.

He [...]

This is the first poem in my very first book, and it’s called ‘Love Poem’.

There is no question
of choice, but it takes
a long time.

Love’s vacancies, the eye
& cavity, track
back to embraces

where the spine bends
& quietens
like smoke in the earth.

Your tongue, touching on song,
darkens all songs. Your touch
is almost a signature.