Archive Mined and Freshly Spun: POETRY

Rebecca Jayne

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:59:28 GMT

REBECCA JAYNE

(2 yrs of age)

Observing the precarious

existence

of household plants

swiftly followed by

the sideways glance

at buttered scones –

aroused by appetites

of taste and touch and sight –

she reaches out to clutch

the flower, trembling

with anticipation of the feel

or knowledge of restraining hands.

Seeking adulation

with every tentative step –

the pleasure of each stretch

a fleeting reminiscence

of the unencumbered state

of birthday grace.

Malcolm Evison

FELL FALL

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:47:05 GMT

FELL FALL

Mist mellows, swathes

the bracken waste, moves

mountains and retrieves

a shadow of their former state –

a throbbing sigh, veiled certainty.

Prey to this cold allure

the crag-fast fear subsides:

tamed by its achromatic spell

the enthralled mind contrives

a vision which can penetrate

the substance of the rock. Unlock

the memories of strange

remoter climes; time lost

in mystery, fusing the venerated

past with present vulnerability.

Mist swathes the bracken waste,

tastes history, mellows and moves

a range of fells, slowly retrieves

a shadow of their former state –

veiled certainty, a subdued sigh.

Malcolm Evison

September Song

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:20:55 GMT

SEPTEMBER SONG

Time past time yet to be

Discovered. I gaze out

Across the hills, the scene changes

Image merges into image. The clouds devour

The openness; still it is growing

No-one can capture the full and flowing

Taste of life, no-one has time enough

To even care. We do

What we must do to pass the time,

But why not more of it – just take it

Let it grow from us.

The sky grows, my eyes close

Once again. Trees and open fields,

Wind tears them all –

This one this all is mine

I breathe, I grow.

Malcolm Evison

The Gift

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:19:39 GMT

THE GIFT

Today is all my bygone days

this evening is the dawn

of my eternity,

of loving faces, smiling eyes

of touching fingers

sliding carefree

down the mossy slopes

of always never.

Only then, will I see you smile,

only now, do I feel your tears

gliding down

the deities

and landing on their feet

of clay.

Today is mis-spent hours

wasting into

the gilt and glory

that was youth –

no symbols,

only words,

softly spoken by the pollen

freely given to the bee.

And I receive them

gratefully –

feeling the touch of your fingers

through my shroud

of fear.

Malcolm Evison

1969

*********************************

another poem, LISTENING TO STOCKHAUSEN ... , has been posted on 'Mal's Factory'

Freshly Unearthed

Mon, 12 May 2008 21:17:43 GMT

A freshly unearthed poem, MOVING, can be found on 'Mal's Factory'

Need Is A Purpose

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:58:10 GMT

NEED IS A PURPOSE

Need is a purpose

whose thirst is never slaked

whose drive

is always onwards.

When met

it fails to recognize

its own fulfilment;

it yields

to further craving,

swallows its own desire,

breathes hope

(in striding forward)

and fear

of failing, falling short

of our unknown goal

Malcolm Evison

25 April 2008

Freshly Minted Poem on Mal's Factory

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:56:37 GMT

My most recent poem, TWILIGHT SEARCH, can be found on 'Mal's Factory'.

THREE POEMS of Quite Recent Vintage

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:30:28 GMT

TRANSFORMED (for Helen)

Right now I feel

the urge to scream

forget the aching limbs

dance deftly

on the brim

of my emotions.

Right now

I feel the lure of love

the light

that breaches

my stoical defence.

I see your face

I glow with joy -

right now

there is no you or I

as we rejoice.

Right now I am

alive with you -

I feel -

imbibe the air of this

our perfect world.

Malcolm Evison

THE YO-YO MAN

Whirling, it made the day
seem shorter than
all other days had been.

It sang and leapt
at his fine tuned command;
his finger tingled,

as the loop pulled tight.
He winced a smile. For now,
he'd thrown his cares away;

next time, perhaps,
he'd simply let them go.

Malcolm Evison

UNVEILING [ for DH ]

Some days, a few words

scribbled down in haste,

a simple melody, a subtle

turn of phrase, unclothes

another’s world. And there,

beneath a supple shell, you find

a heart that bleeds;

it seeds itself beneath

the skin, you share the pain,

then seek to radiate the joy

their presence in the world

discloses. Some days you know

that you are not alone. The wave

that rises, through the words and song,

washes away your frown. You share

a smile, a caring strength;

you know your world

can never be the same.

Sometimes, a word of thanks reveals

that we can overcome;

sometimes a body sings the joy

of sharing; sometimes

we simply share

the pain of caring.

Malcolm Evison

Travelling

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:37:49 GMT

TRAVELLING

When he travelled

His thoughts remained

At home.

He often felt

Estranged from all

He saw

But seldom

Dwelt upon

His own shortcomings.

Sometimes his thoughts

Took flight, but then he felt

Unable to depart

From his fixed

Certainties.

Well travelled,

He discovered

The value

Of remaining here.

Malcolm Evison

BEING

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:50:14 GMT

BEING

God spoke –
I dare not listen.

I could not face
the stillness
of simply being there.

God spoke:
there were no words –
I simply saw

the suffering of others.
I could not share

the stillness
of simply being there.

One day I knew
God could not speak -
I used my eyes,

I saw and felt
the suffering of multitudes –
I listened to their cries –

then cautiously I whispered
“I am here”

and from my helplessness
I knew -
that God was there.

Malcolm Evison
28 July 2005

Dazzled Dilemma

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:51:53 GMT

DAZZLED DILEMMA

Looking towards the sun

I almost failed to see

The ditch in front of me

Startled

I turned away

Trusted my shadow

To show me

The direction home

Without the light

I would be lost

Malcolm Evison

7 February 2008

Correspondence

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:27:55 GMT

CORRESPONDENCE

She wrote a letter to he
he wrote she a reply
she acknowledged
receipt of the same
he thanked she
with a thousand tiny kisses
on the bottom
of his I.O.U.

malcolm evison
196?

Awakened

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:22:38 GMT

AWAKENED

Time past time yet to be

Discovered. I gaze out

Across the hills, the scene changes

Image merges into image. The clouds devour

The open-ness; still it is growing

No-one can capture the full and flowing

Taste of life, no-one has time enough

To even care. We do

What we must do to pass the time,

But why not more of it – just take it

Let it grow from us.

The sky grows, my eyes close

Once again. Trees and open fields,

Wind tears them all –

This one this all is mine

I breathe, I grow.

Malcolm Evison

This poem has been previously published as 'September Song'

NIGHT SHIFTS

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 14:03:20 GMT

NIGHT SHIFTS

Aimlessly walking through

the quiet town, an echo

painlessly affirms belonging.

Night falls;

the day disintegrates -

all reference fails.

I cannot wrap this world

in meaning. Slowly it burns

out the old images, the worn

words, the soiled. This is

the turning point; the nights

calm trodden underfoot.

Hold out your hands;

capture a fragment

of the neon-splintered

sky. A window brightly

shouts its wares.

Stares

into darkness

and reveals

its own banality.

Malcolm Evison (1978)

Smiles and Fears

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:38:53 GMT

The first of these two poems dates from 1971, the second one was written a year or two earlier so far as my memory serves. More archive rummaging disclosed Two Lakeland Poems (circa 1980) which can be found on 'Mal's Factory'.

A SMILE FROM MEMORY

Your smile, cast still, frozen in time,
a type of conquest. A past

Unchangeable; a victory containing
so much doom. My song is doomed -

Is it a must that enters
the open, there to be
irretrievably
lost.
Or else eternally

Discovered. Who hears my song.
The scheme towards the one
lays bare innumerable: one choice:
unlimited destroyed: and yet
are there: always there.

I grow. I journey on -
living the memories, knowing
there is no time
to which they belong. They are:
not were or will be: never again.

Once is for always.
You are smiling still.

Malcolm Evison

FEEL THE FEAR TIGHTEN

Feel the fear tighten
as the man
looks at his freedom
and cannot find a way
to turn.

Feel the release
as he is told
that things will not change -
and share his disbelief.

Feel the joy
of the man who finds
what he had lost
during the search.

Feel the fear tighten
as they discover
the man has found himself.

Malcolm Evison

Flocks and Congregations

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:50:37 GMT

FLOCKS AND CONGREGATIONS

A darkly brooding

Congregation

Of cumuli glowers

Overhead

Threatens to destroy

Our horizon

A neighbouring flock

Glows brightly

Caressed by the sun

We ignore the gloom

And drive

Towards the light

Malcolm Evison

7 September 2007

Rain Rhythms

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:34:32 GMT

RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING OVERHEAD

Full-bounce, full taps -

the odd rim-shot

snapped out –

the rapping rain asserts

its skylight presence.

Entranced -

I listen as

it riffs away -

a paradiddle plenitude

marks my emergence

into day.

Then lightening

fires a cymbal crash –

a bass drum sostenuto

now holds sway.

Malcolm Evison

18 August 2006

A Brand NewPoem

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:12:37 GMT

This brand new piece of whimsy also appears on 'Mal's Factory'

REFLECTED GLORY

Macbeth of a sudden
broke his leg
as he bade the green room crowd
"good luck"

at this the mirror
was all broken up
and vowed
never to say aloud

the name of the king
now lying
in shattered glory.

Malcolm Evison
19 August 2007