Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Twelve short Recollections

      Recollection No. 1
And he recalled a tree, a maple, in the rays of the long sun and on the corner of a street half-forgotten in tears.

      Recollection No. 2
And he recalled a tree: a maple in the rays of the lengthy sun on the
corner of a forgotten street, in tears.

      Recollection No. 3
And he recalled: a maple tree in the meadows of a distant sun, in the rays of a vale of light, in the candles of a lengthy sun.

     Recollection No. 4
On the corner of a street half-buried in tracks he remembered a maple tree. On the corner of a distant light-world in the meadows of the sun.

     Recollection No. 5
On the street corner he remembered a maple tree. He remembered it long, lengthily, eternally. He remembered it outside the window: it
called, nodded, laughed, gladdened. Outside the nursery window. He remembered in the tears of the distant sun. He remembered, recalled, called, would call lengthily, eternally.
      Through the leafage it was green, draughty

     Recollection No. 6
Through the leafage it was draughty, could be seen lengthily, could be seen long: through the leafage. He remembered long, lengthily,
marvellously, long ago he remembered, far away, farther and farther.
Outside the window. The window of childhood, farther and longer. The window glows, glows with sun on sun, in the rays of the long sun, in the tears of the valley sun. In the tracks: a shadow in the rays of the yellow sun, tracks of shadow in the rays, the tracks of evening fall on the sidewalk in rays. Lengthily in the rays they fall, eternally. Ah, mama, mama dear, dead mama, how dear! how dead! how lengthily in the rays, how long in the rays I recall, she calls eternally! And the shadow, a long shadow, a dead, lengthy shadow of evening falls in the rays. Your shadow, mama, an endlessly long dead lengthy shadow in the shadow of a long dead tree. It dies long, eternally.

     Recollection No. 7
That life was long, long without death. And the tree on the corner stood lengthily, stood long, nodded, gladdened. A maple tree, a long tree without death.

      Recollection No. 8
But once it also had a love in life once. Once, long, at one time. It also had a love at one time. Long it was, lengthy, long ago, at one time. That love was in winter, lengthily in winter. And the sun glowed. With an evening eternal light the sun glowed on the window, on the glass, on the window of glass, on the glass of the window it glowed.
       On the window of glass it ignited, turned red, went out without a word. And there also was love.

     Recollection No. 9
Outside the window of childhood of the room he remembered long
marvellously remembered the maple tree: the tree bowed, it bowed,
straightened out, stood, remembered. The tree called, recalled. And he recalled the tree, in the rays, in the fields of the marvellous valley sun. The tree bloomed, the children bloomed, played in the meadows. Whose children? He forgot. He didn’t remember.

      Recollection No. 10
And the candles once glowed. With the golden fire of an eternal sun. On the window of childhood they shone, went out without a word. Also love. For he also had a love in childhood at one time. The window glowed with the winter sun, turned red, farther and farther. Long was that love, an evening one, eternal. And the window flamed and burned with an evening, eternal light. An eternal light.

       Recollection No. 11
Long was that life, a long life: without death. And the tree the endless
tree without death: on the corner of the sun. So they both stood there without death. And the shadow. The lengthy, evening, eternal shadow. A shadow in the shadow of the tree. And both shadows in the shadow of mourning, the sidewalk in shadow. Ah, mama, your lengthy, long shadow in the mourning lies long, runs long, straightens out. The tree straightens out, the tree in the sun, glows, is green, trembles. And a track. On the sidewalk. A mourning track. And in the tears of a forgotten street. Of a street forgotten by someone in tears.

     Recollection No. 12
Long was that light-world: the lengthy sun. The evening shadows fall
in the shadows endlessly. And they run back and forth, they run
endlessly: a lengthy shadow, long, endless is that shadow. In the
irretrievable shadows.
       And he recalled a maple tree or cedar cypress or bush or tree on the corner of a street someone could not forget.

       [Vienna, 24-26 March 1978]