Jean Bleakney Poems

Not the whitefly, nor the vine weevil,
nor the mealy bug, nor the scale insect,
nor woolly aphid, nor other viviparous aphid,
nor spider mite, nor any sap-sucker per se
...

Between the supercilious litany of ultra
and the negative hordes of un
is the magical realism of Um.
Complete with a sense of journey
...

One kind has a black seed and another the colour of saffron.
The latter is used by poets for their wreaths and its leaves are not so dark in colour.
...

Wiry and headstrong in life, so in death,
the bleached stems of harebells
- unflappable as marram grass -
...