Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Poetry Library Southbank Centre - The Poetry Library housing the Arts Council Collection at Southbank Centre

« Previous item
Contents of this issue
Next item »

Sally Rook

print this page

Temptation

Beyond the red flowers of the beans
Uncle Arthur in his rustic den
reaches for the tempting stack
of Hot Legs, Pussycats and Big-Uns
and is abandoned to erotic dreams
among the rakes, the greenfly sprays
and bales of twine. A bubbling briar,
a thermos flask of tea, and thou,
O Cindy of Leicester, you little peach
in your nurses uniform that leaves
all and nothing to the imagination,
and you, Mandy Jane of Staffordshire,
mistress of the come-on look,
what sad toad would not be moved
by your delicious wantonness? And so
the cobweb-curtained windows of the hut,
where tangled houseflies buzz and spin,
are steaming up, while in the sun
a frank pornography of rose and bee,
aphid and apple tree, is going on,
as down the crazy paving path,
past the red flowers of the beans,
comes Uncle Arthur’s better half
with a tempting plate of custard creams.

Page(s) 4

Back to top