Alan Halsey
Summer 1990: An Eclogue
Thyrsis bids again and again
bids adieu. Inside the garden
a renegade's waiting for a second
hand grenade to let fly in the ornament
where Echo meets her match in
a logical but still not predictable
finale; Narcissus with a farewell
speech in his pocket crosses Ribocon
Way in Progress Park, Luton, which
nobody should doubt exists. An ecu
of momentary monetary union
starts a little rumpus during dog
days nights when cliques come to heel in
high places or let's call it the greenhouse
for effect or a small consideration
above and below: defences
let drop like a word
in Echo's ear of favour
in the folly, mere defiance
ref. the slogan Luton's looking up. To what's
not the question but the second owl's answer
might be Echo in person causing wholesale
confusion of the realm: 'a land whose
saving grace turns waste paper into trees'
says the note signed 'N.' in the litter
at the gates of Bedlam-without-mercy.
Night looks so modern and recherché
with its back to nature and the interstellar
gap where placemen tease topographical
allusion to death's door. In the transplant
centre to the left of the heartland Let
bygones be goodbyes repeats Thyrsis.
Page(s) 8
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