 |
|
 |
Shearsman 56 |
Peter Redgrove
Lamps and Fire |
The oyster's pale phlegm,
its satin mucus-and-muscle,
a big black pearl inset:
It looks like a putrefact,
but it is phlegm
and good fortune,
Its mantle-lip like a slippery-kiss
is studded with sky-blue eyes,
an aware arch of firmament –
Any true Christian
views the male human body
as the centre of experience:
While the men debate at table
over their oysters,
she busies herself behind them
With lamps and fire.
Copyright ©the estate of Peter Redgrove, 2003
| Peter
Redgrove was
born in 1932 and lived in Cornwall from the mid-1960s. One
of the most consistently remarkable English poets of the post-war
period, he was the author of over thirty verse collections
and ten works of fiction, as well as plays and works of non-fiction.
His collections include Selected
Poems (Cape, London, 1999). and From
the Virgil Caverns (Cape,
2002). He died on 16 June 2003. A posthumous collection Sheen (166pp, £10)
appears from Stride in October 2003, and a tribute volume, Full
of Stars Dreaming (54pp, £5.95)
appears from the same publisher in October 2003. Both books
can be ordered, post-free, from the publisher at
11 Sylvan Road, Exeter EX4 6EW. |
