The belated appearance of this poem has been due to illness and
other misadventures – but many thanks to those of you who
noticed.
This piece began with a very uninspiring exhibition at the V&A in
London, on Modernism. It included paintings, textiles and machines
which all seemed to me stark, angular and unappealing. In one
corner was a display case full of objects gathered by the architect
le Corbusier – a piece of driftwood, a lump of vitrified slag, a bone.
The title of this exhibit was Objects Which Inspire A Poetic
Reaction. I suspect that le Corbusier wouldn’t know a poetic
reaction if it sat on him, but I liked the title. So I stole it. Here it
tells a story of my own, in the style of a list which might appeal to
an orderly mind such as le Corbusier’s. As you will gather, my friend
Shelley is lucky enough to live in a small apartment behind
Hardwick Hall, and this piece charts the progress of another lovely
evening swapping tales with her.
Objects Which Inspire A Poetic Reaction
1 Hardwick Hall at dusk
2 Bats and blackbirds in a courtyard
3 A wide pine table in the kitchen of
a grace-and-favour flat
4 Two risotto-stained plates
5 A bowl of fruit
with half the lemon missing
6 The perfect gin and tonic
7 Two low chairs
with soft red cushions
beside a small-paned window
8 Rain-wet cabbages,
and crowds of nettles growing privately
9 A radio, stirring quiet light
with hints of Rachmaninov
10 The M1 at sunset
with its many beetling lives
11 A face, telling a story
12 A clean bed
a pillow
13 Dawn at Hardwick Hall