Four Poems

Hello friends,

Four poems again this week, from four different constraints — and the final two poems are brand new! Enjoy! (And if you do, please consider supporting my work by purchasing my latest book The Robots of Babylon.)

The first poem, STRUCTURE, is a code poem, programmed in Python. A fragment of its infinite output is shown below the code.

STRUCTURE (Infinite Palindrome)

while True:
    for word in ["Google", "Babel"]:
        print(word, end=' = ')

…
Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Google = Babel = Goog...

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This second poem is a “visual sonnet” — that is, it is composed of 14 lines:

GHOST SONNET

Next, a more traditional sonnet. A Shakespearean sonnet in iambic pentameter, this poem is about my life in the borderland between England and Wales and my mixed English and Welsh ancestry. It’s set in the Shropshire heathland where I go walking every morning.

BORDERLAND (Sonnet)

Upon the heath in spring the blossom boasts
a host of berries red and blue. The breeze
reverses as I walk with dogs and ghosts,
among the elms and oaks. The ancient trees —
their roots protruding, writhing in the mud —
hold branches bent like banshees, sickle thin
and studded with the promises of buds.

Small birds return like soldiers sick of sin.

Upon the heath in spring, I watch the world
unfurl: The Shropshire Hills, those rolling dales,
lie eastward, blued by mist and slumber-curled,
while westward rise the redder skies of Wales.

The sun dreams, equal over either scene —
as I am both, yet always in between.

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Finally, to complement the above sonnet, a short Welsh-English bilingual palindrome:

RED AND WHITE (Bilingual Palindrome)

Y tir a'r naws. 
Derwen wen.
            New, new reds.
            Wan rarity.

trans.

The land and the nuance.
A white oak.
            New, new reds.
            Wan rarity.