Poetry

By

Paul Summers

eid al fitr (2016)

the moon has crowned,

revealed its pristine fontanel

& gaunt with grief, a wailing man

repeats his children’s empty names;

their corpses & their prospects limp,

a pail of tears to swill away the blood & flame.

a breath away, we savour a second

in the slurry of our progress;

slow grace evolved in gloom,

a fragile moment of warmth,

the tender union of skin & air,

the radiant amber of a slug’s fallen hem,

the burn in spate, the anarchy of cloud,

the sky in free-fall, our gods dishonoured.

jihad

how quickly

we resort to hate

recklessly acceptant

of its every invitation

all fear predated

tenderness un-feted

the puzzle of our rage

translated into carnage

beneath the orbit

of a tolling bell

these snow-drops

lead a merry dance

the joy of their distraction

set fragile & short-lived

Paul Summers

Paul Summers was born in Blyth, Northumberland, in 1967. After a five year stint in Australia he has recently returned to his native north east England. His poems have appeared widely in print since the late Eighties and he has performed all over the world. He was founding co-editor of the ‘leftfield’ British magazines Billy Liar and Liar Republic and a co-director of Liar Inc Ltd, responsible for facilitating countless creative community and educational projects across the North of England and beyond. He has also written for TV, film, radio and theatre and has collaborated many times with other artists and musicians on mixed-media projects and public art.