THE DREAMER, THE SLEEP - Barry Tebb
L’orage qui s’attarde, le lit dйfait
Yves Bonnefoy
Here am I, lying lacklustre in an unmade bed
A Sunday in December while all Leeds lies in around me
In the silent streets, frost on roof slates, gas fires
And kettles whistle as I read Bonnefoy on the eternal.
Too tired to fantasize, unsummoned images float by,
Feebly I snatch at them to comply with the muse’s dictum: write.
The streets of fifties summers, kali from the corner shop,
Sherbet lemons and ice pops, the voice of Margaret at ten,
What times will have done to you, what men
Used and abused you?
Solitary but not alone I read Lacan on desire
It is not a day I can visit the ward
Overcome by delusion’s shadow.
