ARRESTED FRACTALS

This morning a new pony
to charm from hay
with torn dark grass

__a blunt sun, puddles
__outlined in white

do the stamping trick!
catch the magpies
stealing a silver penny

__walking backwards now
__I keep an eye on me

we always like kilts
at a wedding
buttocks all chilly

__feasted tablecloths
__spilt coconut oil

aching scarlet torsos
and orange peel thighs –
deck chairs sag

__down below, bored
__heat lies between us

your fist clenches tight
knows which letters
treble

__finding solutions
__rather a problem, right now

the clue is in the paper
Essex secret agent
B_S_LD_N B__ D

__peppermint tea bags
__left behind

coat on back to front
hood full over
moonface waves me off

__here is my territory
__starve in your own

snow poles wait –
freezing dawn
dislodges the stars

__for the living salt
__for the dead a compass

tonight's homework –
test all the metal
in the house

__in his dreams
__the keys grow roots

underwater lava
unfurls fractals
out of each arrest

__the goldfish in the bubbles say
__hello, hello, hello.

a nijuuin renga in Autumn
Percy Building, University of Newcastle
20 November, 2004

Participants

Alec Finlay (master)
Ira Lightman (host)
Maria Choustoulaki
Kostas Hristos
Lesley Mountain
Nicolas Spicer
(Creative Writing MA)