Edward Barker
Gothenburg
The tincture of distilled elk-musk
rises from the Universitate labs late evening
and drifts towards the jagged triptych formation of stratus:
silverback, eglantine, streaked with coal-dust.
And the slope of a bridge arcing high into rivermist
whose far end disappears into the rainbow
of its fluvial histories;
here the escutcheon of the East India Company,
there the spice warehouse that paid
for the Stalinist palace of arts –
and silence too, lying on the waters,
snared in the ripples of a distant fog horn.
rises from the Universitate labs late evening
and drifts towards the jagged triptych formation of stratus:
silverback, eglantine, streaked with coal-dust.
And the slope of a bridge arcing high into rivermist
whose far end disappears into the rainbow
of its fluvial histories;
here the escutcheon of the East India Company,
there the spice warehouse that paid
for the Stalinist palace of arts –
and silence too, lying on the waters,
snared in the ripples of a distant fog horn.
Edward Barker studied medieval history at Oxford. He currently writes film scripts and manages a charity which runs a homeless centre in West London.
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