Dies Illa
: the negative courtyard, the negative day
when the dark shall be light, each thing
give up its guilty hoard of energy.
Each shadow cast on a wall is dazzling
while that crack of sunlight is a line
of black, an iron rule. That torch beam,
a blunt cosh. Thus the walk of the mind
into the garden of the absolutes, the dream
of the pure, its after-image bruised
on the back of the eye, ends in a bare
bright courtyard into which you, you or you
might be led – the worst thing not to die
but first, to be made to confess
your gratitude
to trembling kids with fingers on their triggers.
when the dark shall be light, each thing
give up its guilty hoard of energy.
Each shadow cast on a wall is dazzling
while that crack of sunlight is a line
of black, an iron rule. That torch beam,
a blunt cosh. Thus the walk of the mind
into the garden of the absolutes, the dream
of the pure, its after-image bruised
on the back of the eye, ends in a bare
bright courtyard into which you, you or you
might be led – the worst thing not to die
but first, to be made to confess
your gratitude
to trembling kids with fingers on their triggers.
Philip Gross is Professor of Creative Writing at Glamorgan University. He has written several books of poetry, and a wide range of novels for young people. His most recent poetry collection, The Egg of Zero, was published by Bloodaxe Books in February 2006. He has also recently published The Abstract Garden, a collaboration with engraver Peter Reddick.
Page(s) 57
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