Roddy Lumsden
The precious
I find myself privy to the following information:
it is not only on the pin-point of death
we leave behind the precious.
I trawl eyes-down through swarthy Ermita,
still hung-over from its red light days,
watching the pavement for signs of scuttling,
a creature bigger than that copper-tone cockroach
lying kicking on its back
three days ago and three feet away
from where I am writing this,
convinced there must be more
insectivora exotica in balmy Manila
than that poor, leggy waif
I whacked at as I’m now whacking myself
for not saying more to Merilee,
for barely extending myself beyond
the international language
of stolen glances and longing stares.
Roddy Lumsden’s first two collections are Yeah Yeah Yeah and The Book of Love (Bloodaxe). These poems will appear in his next, Roddy Lumsden is Dead, from Wrecking Ball later this year.
Page(s) 48
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