“Once below a time, When my pinned-around-the-spirit/ Cut-to-measure flesh”
~ Dylan Thomas ~ “Once below a time”
it must have been those citrus summer bells
summoning brass to timpanic pitch and swell
in two toned beats that set my pulse to play
along with yet another parish church Sunday
spirit flies on sea-thrift carpet mounds
where low slung bees steal hallowed honey ground
forage in pink pistils beneath a yellow ageing yew
that kneels and sings Jerusalem to a western wind tattoo
it must have been the wedding airs of happy ever after
seedy rice and something surreptitious in that laughter
tossed bouquets tied loosely with a hidden invitation
ribbon trail pursuit of a honeymoon gestation
sweet swollen appetite for peeled and ill-cut flesh
the greedy gudgeon hooked by beastly bait in mesh
swift from discarnate seas to flounder after birth
a bare boundless soul caught fast 'twixt tears and mirth
Four-line stanzas of rhyming couplets and a late entry for the Toads’ Tuesday Platform
PoetryPix 