Paul Hansford Poems

('I hate sunsets and flowers. I loathe the sea; the sea is formless.' - WH Auden.

I hate sunsets and flowers;
I loathe the rolling sea.
...

Very early in the morning we were woken from our sleep,
We were going on safari, being driven in a jeep,
We went out before our breakfast, we went out before sunrise,
We went out before the sleep had fully vanished from our eyes.
...

On a line from Mandelstam - 'I have learned the science of parting'

There was so much we never did together,
places to go and visit hand in hand,
...

(a rondel)

“There is no comment submitted by members.”
Nobody bothers; nobody cares;
...

J ust as the old year ends the new begins,
A nd once again the countdown is in motion.
N ow we can say goodbye to last year’s sins,
U plifted hearts set out on this new ocean.
...

These children,
round-eyed, absorbing
what the world offers them,
or silently wandering in their own
...

Walking along the line 'twixt sea and land
I saw a bottle, half hidden by a stone
and buried to the neck in the wet sand.
I picked it up, then, with a puzzled frown,
...

I never knew your name. I only saw you once.
We exchanged glances and platitudes
about the heat. At your neck
the letter S - I never asked you
...

Ganges, dawn, a luminous haze
over the water. The bathing ghats
are busy with the faithful. (But India
is inconceivable without faith.)
...

(a poem in three voices)
-

(The gardener)
...