Saturday 24 January 2009

POEM FOR ADRIAN MITCHELL


FOR ADRIAN MITCHELL
BENEATH THE YEARS AFTER

Adrian Mitchell – 24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008,
this is my response to his fine poem ‘Peace Is Milk’,
as reprinted in his collection ‘For Beauty Douglas’ – Allison & Busby

if peace
was ever milk
then it’s been sterilised
evaporated
with generations
weaned on blood…

if peace
was ever blood
then it’s been transfused
into the corpses of the blind
drained into the veins of anaemics
and generations left
bereft of dreams…

if peace
was ever dreams
then it’s been
bled through illogics
force-fed on illusions
amputated from the breast
and left to die
of thirst

Published in:
‘T.O.P.S. no.33’ (UK – September 1981)
‘RECOLLECTIONS BEFORE DAWN’ (UK – December 1981)
‘BIG BANG no.5’ (UK – Decem
ber 1983)
‘AS WELL AS no.4’ (UK – March 1997)

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