John Hartley Williams
Poem
I long to rise up like a train
out of the disconsolate waiting room
in which I am knitting you this.
People keep sitting opposite me. People
& goats. And people eating salad, with goats.
And a boy with a penis.
Does he read newspapers? Interminably.
If I wasn’t so young, I’d be old.
The ink upon this paper reminds me
of the bathroom wallpaper, ah, the rhubarb
& the flies – the whole brightly coloured
pattern! And I’m sitting in it. Alone.
If you were to ask me now for money
you’d hear the words: ‘It’s useless sweetheart!’
I’m just an old dress with holes in
which I’m tearing very slowly off your body.
out of the disconsolate waiting room
in which I am knitting you this.
People keep sitting opposite me. People
& goats. And people eating salad, with goats.
And a boy with a penis.
Does he read newspapers? Interminably.
If I wasn’t so young, I’d be old.
The ink upon this paper reminds me
of the bathroom wallpaper, ah, the rhubarb
& the flies – the whole brightly coloured
pattern! And I’m sitting in it. Alone.
If you were to ask me now for money
you’d hear the words: ‘It’s useless sweetheart!’
I’m just an old dress with holes in
which I’m tearing very slowly off your body.
poetrymagazines' note: John Hartley Williams' most recent collection is The Ship (Salt 2007). His website can be found at www.johnhartleywilliams.de
Page(s) 30
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