Pete Spence


Triviae.

to the trivial things to avoid
might be listed long past a lifetime
well i like lists but i'm not eager
to take a lifetime that would be
trivial enough! it is a sunny
morning and that's not trivial
this mid winter trivially cold
and wet and not luxuriously
trivial even in a cluttered
landscape that baulks triviality
then someone says what
about kitch? another lifetime
list i won't be led astray on!



Luck.

an outrageously lucky existence
some strange glitch as polished
marble with a grudge to move
intense in a profusion of air
shuddering delicately in the
furrowed landscape thinking
it is accidentally there to hold
up some purpose to be on
the horizon under some sun
would melt the interruption
doesn't the air also need an
outrageously lucky existence?
luck right now is not with it!



Broccoli Overflow.

in the broccoli overflow
the winch breaks loose
with an ochre limp

daylight scrapes the air
taunts & clings forever
like a wooden stare

through metal thinness
the couch sleeps rotting
in abundant moistures

a luminous bounce
strides like an arm
diagonally forever yellow

shades of a generous fever
cut by a sharp breeze
nobody can contain



Four Winter Poems.

 1. Encased.

now that Winter is fully here
o Summer! filigreed and embossed
into the landscape some woodwinds
in a birdcage gives some form to the air
unfolding in a perspiring lake an illuminated 
mural in sunlight the idea of Spring 
a distant hope encased here encrusted  
in Winter's cold cinders

 2. Proceedings.

looking out into the greater beyond
a wincing surprise choosing the exact
moment when the sky was drooping
into a brick wall and nothing svelte
about it unfolding raggedy billowing
covering even the fog lazily hanging 
around as Winter unrolls through
the proceedings of the greater beyond

 3. A Fresco Of Scarcities.

Winter cannot work out why 
it can't rain on shadows
a fresco of scarcities under
twines of rain coursing through 
the near greater beyond
Winter is mud in your eye

 4. Envoi: What Am I Doing.

what am i doing waiting
for spring? i made an 
application for doing nothing!
i didn't pass the test!

Pete Spence was born in 1946. He is a poet, visual poet, editor, and filmmaker, and has worked in various jobs to cover the ongoing deficit. A collection of his visual poetry, 5 X Y, was published by Red Fox Press as part of the C'est Mon Dada series.

 
 

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