Elizabeth Birchall
Suspended
A titanic ladder
emerges from a field of cloud
to punctuate a pale horizon.
Two great steel arcs (carrying a vestigial
fence to shield a highwire workman)
disappear. Forked suspender rods thrust
from each arcing cable and disappear
into cloud below.
Someone stood behind a camera
on the unseen near tower
to capture a perfect abstract
in a habitat of aircraft
where no birds fly, silent
except for the wind’s faint thrumming
on the strings of this gigantic harp.
Below, unseen, unceasing, wheels
drum the deck — milk tankers,
pantechnicons, cars on fractious holidays,
bread vans and Hell’s Angels.
Below again, rape yellows in the fields,
a quiet herd chews cud beneath an oak
and canoeists paddle steadily upstream.
Page(s) 48
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