James Norcliffe
the jacket
it is difficult to explain
the meaning of the jacket
to an answerphone
suffice it to say it shone
in an island of light
on a disappointed street
one arm lifted
in a handless salute
the other limp and
pinned napoleonically
to the proud chest
of a tanned mannequin
despite its subdued stripes
of deepest grey & brown & black
it needed a shirt
of softest lawn and cuffs
to shoot
onyx links
a tie of handpainted silk
just as the mannequin
needed eyes
not those sightless almonds
staring into the future
but the bright light
and the almonds were all it had
and the jazz never arrived
and I’d rather talk
to someone breathing
Page(s) 51
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- Lamport Court
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- Matter
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- North, The
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- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
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- Poetry London (1951)
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- Poetry Salzburg Review
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- Private Tutor
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- Quarto
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- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
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- Shearsman
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- Staple
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