Mad Rush

Lines written after listening to the piano music of Phillip Glass, played by Sally Whitwell

1. opening

there is space between colour

the aperture opens

light

light

light

2–6. metamorphosis

she is the road home

the tail lights of strangers

the surge of hills

the deepening sky

she is the garden party

ferns outstretching

to reveal a beautifully kept lawn

the guests are beginning to arrive

she is the glass of water

in the darkened apartment

in the tiltshift city

she is the dance of the circus horse

and the fall

she is the listening silence

drawn from memory

7. mad rush

this is a poem

it says it is and

it is

darling

8. dead things

this is also a poem

it can ask nothing of you

that you are not willing to give

don’t be frightened

9. wichita vortex sutra

the bus bleeds between stations

light smears on dirty glass

there’s an old man on the back seat

making music with himself

she leans into the silence

makes a kindly joke
at nobody’s expense