Paul Groves
Three Decades
The first time I saw you was at a party:
the last was at a solicitor’s.
The years between started with parity
of esteem and ended with terse
documentation to which we were cosignatories.
Memory is selective. It homes in
on that summer evening, that Goldhurst Terrace
room where a mutual friend gained my attention
with a theatrical flourish and introduced you.
Beyond the sofa, near two Mondrian prints,
you stood demurely. Within minutes my view
of the future had been transformed. For once
I was electrified by a voice, hair,
eyes... The future rips
us from that setting, and suddenly we’re
older and sadder but not wiser. A folder snaps
shut, and a member of the legal profession
rises from his desk to extend a cool
hand. Recollection is at it again:
“Hey,” someone coaxes, “come and meet Jill.”
Page(s) 50
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- Lamport Court
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- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
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- Shearsman
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- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
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- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
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- Yellow Crane, The