Poems by James Keery
PN Review 42, March - April 1985
How Many Streams Can You Rake With Your Copper Rake?
The nets have come up empty, leaving us free to imagine
What the object was. Who crayoned large, red slogans
On my body as I was sleeping? The dream
Would bleed away if I opened my eyes. This longing
Beyond you is love, and no cause for sadness.
The Heron
The sun was white, and set among the snowclouds like a
bruise.
A twilight settled over the red mills that I confuse.
It almost frightened me, although I took it in my stride:
A sense of winged depression, like the heron's final glide.
Perspicuous Weather
The weather was like a new pin this afternoon.
A strict illusion brings the loose patrol
Across the field of February mud.
The dangers seem distant over the grey horizon.
Crocuses have come out, and the middle ground
Is beginning to take solid form under my feet.
Eclipse
Not every cloud has a silver lining, of course,
But a continental black one that has, has
Intervened between the sun and our afternoon.
The trees are suddenly black against the blue.
Le Havre
The magnificent magnolia
Flowers below the sill.
Flights of steep steps
Accompany the walls' descent.
'Tu ressembles beaucoup
A une peinture d'Ingres,'
As others had also noticed-
'Un peu espagnole'.
In winter you can see this view
From the table on the terrace,
But now the sycamores,
And the trees they insist
On calling blackberries,
With glassy, tart red fruit,
Are no less opaque
Than this 'silex' design.
Westleigh Brook
It was clear dusk to one who had been outside,
Doubtless dark already to those who were
About to draw the curtains in brilliant rooms.
Pied Wagtails From the Classroom Window, 196-
I used to imagine they were rare,
Even though I watched them every day.
So did you, as I was delighted to discover,
Though you knew how common they were,
No more a marvel than a magpie or a plover.
No need to impress yourself led you astray.
James Keery lives in Culcheth and was head of the English department at Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley. Carcanet published That Stranger, The Blues in 1996 and his new edition of Burns Singer's Collected Poems in 2001. His celebrated anthology of poetry, Apocalpyse, was released in 2020.
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