POETRY IS LIKE TAKING A DEEP BREATH

Saturday 29 June 2013

WATER-BURN

The large blue Horse*



We should have been galloping on horses, their hoofprints
Splashes of light, divots kicked out of the darkness,
Or hauling up lobster pots in a wake of sparks. Where
Were the otters and seals? Were the dolphins on fire?
Yes, we should have been doing more with our lives.



Michael Longley
1939-


*The Large Blue Horse 
by  Franz Marc
1880-1916
German Expressionist Painter

Thursday 27 June 2013

DELAY

The Hubble Extreme Deep Field*



The radiance of that star that leans on me
Was shining years ago. The light that now
Glitters up there my eye may never see,
And so the time lag teases me with how

Love that loves now may not reach me until
Its first desire is spent. The star’s impulse
Must wait for eyes to claim it beautiful
And love arrived may find us somewhere else.


Elizabeth Jennings
1926-2001






*The Hubble Extreme Deep Field
NASA, ESA, UCSC, Leiden Obs and the XDF Team.
This image by the Hubble Space telescope is the deepest image of the far Universe ever taken in visible light.   The faintest galaxies formed 13 billion years ago, just a few percent of its present age.