Malcolm Evison

They hang; a heavy weightlessness,
like long forgotten memories
seeking renewal. The man sits,
beside the window, looking
...

Night falls; the day disintegrates. All in a moment.

Have I been sleeping, or, is it a miracle? No-one can answer for me. I close the shutters of my mind, but always there is something. Always something there; no way of escape. Soon there will be another day, I know that – the mind cannot rest, but today, all I have done is forgotten. I can feel it, always the burden is there. Today, always there is a brooding yesterday, tomorrow will be another today.
...

Wrapped futilely
in the realm of beauty sleep –
dawn rarely dawns on me.
...

Observing the precarious
existence
of household plants
...

A few slender lines
of spider silk

stretch
...

God spoke –
I dare not listen.

I could not face
...

That day you found
time’s precipice
and never faltered –
...

Whirling, it made the day
seem shorter than
all other days had been.
...

I sway, as if to breathe
the passing breezes tail -

the water sighs
...

Too late, even to sell
himself. The air is silent.

Distinct servility
...

Time past time yet to be
Discovered. I gaze out
Across the hills, the scene changes
...

Wearing the anguish
of old age
like some military honour,
he follows the cortege.
...

Seeking a concrete image
to convey
a pre-stressed thought
I lay foundations
...

Blackly embroidered
against the morning sky,
three trees.
...

Absurd redemption of humanity -
how can I write
or mouth a ritual creed
which brings to life
...

this is another poem
I started
to unite it all in one
...

These visits are
by now routine -
on entering
...

Misjudged by many of my peers,
betrayed by those in whom
I placed my trust. Today
...

We don’t wait, we wonder
if now is the time
for songs to flow –
strive to illuminate
...

Mist mellows, swathes
the bracken waste, moves
mountains and retrieves
...