Into the Attic
In the narrow hallway, almost out of reach,
Is a cord you pull down, lowering stairs
To access the attic, which is stuffed
With all manner of wonderful, half-forgotten things.
Imagine if you could find another cord there,
To pull down to access the entire world above -
Overhanging trees and sky and space and planets and all.
R.I.P. the English Girl in the
Bahamas
There was a young girl who married a pirate
They boarded a ship called La Mouette.
They had a ship’s cat and also a parrot -
Well, if not a parrot, a noisy old rooster -
And a couple of cabin-boys who called her Mum -
And a sea-dog of course, or at least they used to.
They dressed up in finery, drank lots of rum...
They sailed ever sunwards, and they’re sailing yet.
Home in Balara
Sitting upon the steps of poetry
my feet in the water
the afternoon sun full on the sea and me
as clouds come stealthy on.
The sun and I go in together,
I’ll come out in the dark.
The sun will come and go forever
my cloud will be a cloud of dust
and I will be long gone.
The Boy Lies Naked
The boy lies naked on the bed at night,
The breeze touches, touches.
The air is warm and he is out of sight,
The breeze touches, touches.
He finds no answers about future days;
The breeze plays, plays.
Robin Helweg-Larsen
