sean burn
the breadth ov a starlings beak (linder, hepworth gallery, wakefield)
theres an eye-hole to bone
- the way light hollows
a meteorite strike flattening forests
or survival like wolves breathing
like a wolfs breath blustering
how all flows allow for the inhale
the exhale the inhale no more
flags at half-mast
and where are all the pit-heads?
enforce the thin line
the thin lie
its a rare spine reaches the ground
chain-mail & the chained male
ruche fabric from hands
& gastric bands adrift
the liftings from popular culture
yr scalpel reshaping resharping
jack-knifing over headlines
can i touch? this wee lass asks
ov the gallery & riffs on down
fingers shearing routes
beggars auditioning for ministers
the shock & the heeled
charity is for previous decades
they dont recognise the need for food-banks
unlike ground-floor punk yu
yr record ov working lives more truthful
before theyve skinned the meat off
align bones ov the skeleton cage
w/ scraps ov light still attached
sly landscape ov veins thickly out
we cannot be divorced from this
side effects include spatial distortion
missing time & claustrophobia
while here at the gates
that sheer sensuousness
- lustre off a butterflies back
the breadth ov a starlings beak
cala lilies are interior
a staircase just out ov reach
the upturned glass is a keyhole
where they have refused to operate
yu carry no faultlines running on thru
the executioners chair within
the ink well? the ink is not well
nothing ever black and white this rich earth
embroidering the skein ov all worlds
where the skin is at its thinnest
add a certain mouthiness
outlier the darkest line us
horizontaling to the black sun
an anarchist star
anarkissed star
the black sun and daughters ov seed
on returning to battle yr
gate
shield
spear
wielded
kiss peace as collage
there is a hunger to
choosing yr battles carefully
existence voided ov chaos
what is fettered what must be said
three poems from spell / checkered : some creative spellchecked alternatives to an alphabet ov word-workers who are among my touchstones
(shirin) neshat
mineshaft
shatter
mis-hit
nectar
meshed
my favourite work ov hers: rebellious silence (1994)
(maggie) o’sullivan
ovule
savant
souls
ocular
saliva
my favourite work ov hers: red shift (etruscan books, 2001)
(yannis) ritsos
roots
risen
risks
rocks
riots
my favourite work ov his: monochords (five seasons press, 2007)
the breadth ov a starlings beak (linder, hepworth gallery, wakefield)
theres an eye-hole to bone
- the way light hollows
a meteorite strike flattening forests
or survival like wolves breathing
like a wolfs breath blustering
how all flows allow for the inhale
the exhale the inhale no more
flags at half-mast
and where are all the pit-heads?
enforce the thin line
the thin lie
its a rare spine reaches the ground
chain-mail & the chained male
ruche fabric from hands
& gastric bands adrift
the liftings from popular culture
yr scalpel reshaping resharping
jack-knifing over headlines
can i touch? this wee lass asks
ov the gallery & riffs on down
fingers shearing routes
beggars auditioning for ministers
the shock & the heeled
charity is for previous decades
they dont recognise the need for food-banks
unlike ground-floor punk yu
yr record ov working lives more truthful
before theyve skinned the meat off
align bones ov the skeleton cage
w/ scraps ov light still attached
sly landscape ov veins thickly out
we cannot be divorced from this
side effects include spatial distortion
missing time & claustrophobia
while here at the gates
that sheer sensuousness
- lustre off a butterflies back
the breadth ov a starlings beak
cala lilies are interior
a staircase just out ov reach
the upturned glass is a keyhole
where they have refused to operate
yu carry no faultlines running on thru
the executioners chair within
the ink well? the ink is not well
nothing ever black and white this rich earth
embroidering the skein ov all worlds
where the skin is at its thinnest
add a certain mouthiness
outlier the darkest line us
horizontaling to the black sun
an anarchist star
anarkissed star
the black sun and daughters ov seed
on returning to battle yr
gate
shield
spear
wielded
kiss peace as collage
there is a hunger to
choosing yr battles carefully
existence voided ov chaos
what is fettered what must be said
three poems from spell / checkered : some creative spellchecked alternatives to an alphabet ov word-workers who are among my touchstones
(shirin) neshat
mineshaft
shatter
mis-hit
nectar
meshed
my favourite work ov hers: rebellious silence (1994)
(maggie) o’sullivan
ovule
savant
souls
ocular
saliva
my favourite work ov hers: red shift (etruscan books, 2001)
(yannis) ritsos
roots
risen
risks
rocks
riots
my favourite work ov his: monochords (five seasons press, 2007)
Copyright © sean burn 2015
sean burn's third and latest full volume of poetry is that a bruise or a tattoo? was published by Shearsman in 2013.