arthur abraham IV & riverside
by Steven Fowler
[ poetry - may 10 ]
(arthur abraham IV)
at the front of the vandal train
was a mould of an animal
it wore a jaw
of something animal
(riverside)
...following Hamnavoe market & George Mackay Brown
my foot is growing old, he said
asking out, blue means dead?
weedshot in his heart
the canvas is elipsis art
he saw the prison ink
he knew the roothall pink
& recognised his father in the mess - he commanded teeth to compress
he toppled, like a shot
greedy like a pheasant
the charnel grinder sang so pleasant
bleeding from a viscious cut
venison dripped its briny nut
Mackay pinned on his sash
bathed his children in water's lash - public geyser, from hook to boy
he wielded mallet as though a toy - the furrows; out came Baysmith
over were the Gynepodie speeches
on the smell of freshly gutted peaches
they fit leeches to the bracket
the building cost a packet
the curator's pets slank mice
his hair, his hair, riddled with lice
Lykke has arched her back
& pulled sodden notes from the sack
her arm broken from contributions
the winged note of his elocutions:
a new wing of the hospital by the sea
event of the summer
