This House Runs Backwards

Listen to the irregular click, that out-breathing,
unwinding wind, that widdershinning,
teeth-catching snap.  Press your ear to the almost
inaudible tick.  Press your cheek to a cog; feel it dip,
chilly as brass.  See windows flap open, hinges unscrew,
curtains dishevel their hems, floorboards flip dolls
into trunks with unlockable lids, and patches of sunlight
run down the walls.  See in the fridge the cheese
re-curdling; knives and forks in the slow-turning
kitchen whipping to the Aga to smelt.  And this sucking
thing at the letterbox is the past's mouth.  It comes
with a tongue to lick oil off the mechanism.


***This poem, along with an earlier draft of the one that now appears in my Profile, first appeared in Agenda: Dwelling Places. 

This Well Holds a House

Wind the handle for the bucket that knocks at the side,
dislodging moss and brick flakes.  See the steam rise
from the chimney.  See, in the garden the ducks sploshing
for their sops; willows thriving in the mush; cool water
for washing and drinking, or warmed in the dark like a geyser.
See the beds and chairs and tables and windows, soft
as sponges.  See the laundry, never drying, where the web-footed,
wrinkle-palmed husband and the web-footed, wrinkle-palmed
wife are ringing out their babies to hang them in the shade. 

***This poem, one in a series of pieces inspired by Bachelard, first appeared in the online supplement to Agenda: Dwelling Places.  Time is short today and I haven't enough of it to write anything significant, but I've been meaning to post some of my published work here for a while.  Besides, I like this poem and feel sad that it'll probably be buried in Agenda's online archive.

Agenda: Dwelling Places

The new edition of Agenda has been available for a few weeks. Within its covers can be found an interview with and essays on John Burnside, along with poems by Burnside and others. Two of my poems also appear, and Johnny's illustrations are featured on the front and back covers and throughout the magazine.

Agenda is currently available primarily through its website.