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Katherine Gallagher

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Edge

(after Kandinsky’s ‘Contrasting Sounds’; 1924)

There are no players for the chessboard.
The trees too have gone, leaving a minor banquet -
dull shapes at angles to each other. Kandinsky’s chariot drawn
left to right - upwards, following stars, one-way traffic
through a hushed universe.

Circles rim shades: the drums of colour
hammering on your heart. The atmosphere is as calm
as can be imagined - that calm after the shearers
have been through, taking their pickings
while black-ringed moons pitch shadows,
putting out antennae, snail-like
for a new sweep forward. They hide a residue of faith.

This is 1924, a quarter of the century spent,
folding back on itself. War is the old solution
where the fat death reigns, like a bogey
that can’t be bought off. People stare at the game.
Back to the chessboard - promises, promises.
Long-term winners float on their crinkly sea;
navigate a certain tilt, an aftermath,
believing they have everything to play for.

 

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