Sunday 27 June 2010

"on suicide" and "on civil war" by Alasdair Paterson

Two more short poems from Alasdair Paterson's new collection:

on suicide

almost his
last thing
that weekend

planting out bulbs
footnotes for the spring


on civil war

following inundation infestation invasion
measure countermeasure and scorched earth
crops officially pitiful and stores covertly emptied
here is an announcement from the ministry
let them eat roots
thank you

here is an announcement from the military
I wouldn't dig
just there
if I were you


Alasdair Paterson
On the Governing of Empires (Shearsman, 2010)


You can order On the Governing of Empires directly from the publisher or from The Book Depository with free worldwide delivery.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous2:27 pm

    Brilliant. This is the kind of spareness and tone that I ultimately strive for... though, with me, it's nowhere in sight!

    Thanks for these, Carrie. Much appreciated.

    H xx

    ReplyDelete