DEGREES OF RED
We tried to explain to
Edwin
The principle of
parallax,
How if he lined up two
pheasants
He could get both with
one barrel.
In the end, he tried
glancing off the one bird
To hit the other,
Which he missed.
The first bird,
red-plumed,
He took home.
We watched Melanie dye
her hair
Carrot-red, and garish.
It was the fashion, she
said,
And we dared not mouth
the obvious joke.
She felt the makeover
gave her identity.
Just about this time,
Sunsets were drawn-out
and brilliant –
Dust, they said, from
Mount St.Helens,
Circling the world.
Beauty born of death.
Whatever, we were
treated to some spectacular displays,
Pyrotechnics in slowest
motion.
* *
*
Three reds, then –
A violent volcano
Somewhere in the west
of America,
A girl nicknamed
'Carrot Top',
And a stunned pheasant
coming to life,
Flying round and round
the kitchen,
And out of the door.
(Michael Newman)
18 Courtiers Drive
Bishops Cleeve
Cheltenham
Glos GL52 8NU