Monday, January 30, 2017

How Can I Be In Two Places At Once?

Unless you are a bird
history entering
the panelled eye
time is colour
light is memory
migrating by heart
led by the wing
but there is only one bird
of all places
who cares nothing
for what is a bird 
place 
sticks and feathers 
made and unmade
you sleep 
standing up
on the wind

---
This poem is a temporal anomaly because it is yesterday's poem published today.
It is for my friend Kate Clifford, long time Internet companion and all round excellent human, who asked 'How can I be in two places at once?' 
The bird comes from Boyle Roche, an Irish politician in the late 1700s infamously said, "Mr. Speaker, it is impossible I could have been in two places at once, unless I were a bird." While Roche was famous for mixed metaphors and malapropisms, in this case he was quoting lines from a play.

1 comment:

  1. This is one of the loveliest presents I've ever been given Penni xx

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