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For Hugh Sykes-Davies
There is a crack in the land almost so big
your toe will fit
inside.
There is a crack in the land so big your toe
and almost your
foot will fit
inside. There is a crack so big your leg
will slide easily in
past the knee, and if you try, if you
really try, you can stand
up to your waist
in this crack in the land and see
cattle and car engines from a point of view abandoned
an age
ago.
This crack in the land is lined with grey river-stones and red
soil, baked by a sun so hot you must lean into the shade
of this
crack in the land - and with the heat,
even now, fit to knock
you flat,
you could easily, so easily, lie down
for forty winks in this crack in the land
were it not for the
stink and the sticky mud
and the million grown-ups on each side
who just WILL NOT BUDGE.
GLAD TO BE GULLIBLE
I believe all numbers are indivisible
except 2, 4, and 7
I believe that one day soon the rain
instead of pitter patter will fall in just one whack
I believe
in love and the dignity of the human spirit
I believe some
people deserve more than they get
I believe there's a world in
there, trying to get out
I believe there's a world out there,
trying to get out
I believe everything vibrates
at exactly the same rate
Though the wing of a butterfly in Bolivia
can cause a hurricane
off Florida
I believe it probably won't
If it wasn't for decimal currency
the economy would be in a real mess
Ballpoint pens turn into wire coat-hangers
Superman is a cartoon
character
Bill Clinton is real
I believe in three things
but I used to believe in four
I make up for this by believing in one of these
twice as much
A SHORT, LONELY PIECE OF ROPE
I just want
to be
long
SOME DAYS
burn like paper: bright and simply.
Some crackle and fizz like a dry fir tree
or smoulder and stink
of dust and hair.
Some days your house burns down
and you'd better be ready.
Hopes, like houses,
go up in smoke, or down
in flames, which is curious.
Tears