John Harvey
Barrier Reef
Off the street for coffee
Bill Withers all the way
From perfume counter
to restaurant, lovely day,
lovely day, lovely day
It takes a lot to impress me!
you say to me who spent
nearly two years trying.
a beach of broken coral
like fine white sand.
outside they have flooded the square
from Debenhams to the columns
that float before the Council House,
displaced pigeons squabble over
Pizzaland and jeered on by his mates
a skinny youth lifts both arms
high above his orange mohican
and executes a perfect dive
down through the maze
of multi-coloured fish
I drive north and park
overlooking these so ordinary
English fields
the car stereo is playing
your letter left behind
through the closed windows
the sun is warm and false
as memory: up there on the hill
snow is packed hard
against hedges and walls
if I climbed to the ridge
and followed the line to where
the trees fold I would come
to the place you left behind
you circle the world
in search of the perfect beach
while I stay here another hour
land-locked
not strong enough even to stare
into the water’s face
 |
Page(s) 48-49
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