17 November 2024
in progress
ugly ballet
One is not arguing, either ingenuously or disingenuously, that a mountebank spontaneity of self expression should usurp the role of studied “ornament poeticall”.
– Geoffrey Hill, Collected Critical Writings *
what wild formality of fear
of ghosts gone awol without care
eternal trauma is our lot
from ancient origins begot
the ballistics of power
flowers of discontent
summers feigning ignorance
winters of discernment
clumsy verse on purpose
nothing in sequence
but best bets gone astray
it always was this way
this frail craft
poisoned from within
by seraphim
their burning eyes assuaging
* Hill, G. (2008) Collected Critical Writings. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p199