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Beyond the space

Author: 
Roy McFarlane

Untidy Dreadful Table 

WS Graham

1918 – 1986

Inscription found on the table of WS Graham

 

Untidy dreadful table

You’ve taken the weight of words

Along lines upon lines upon your back

Vertical lines like reeds rising from a lake

 

You’ve felt the thud of keys

Against carbon against paper

And now beyond the space

Beyond the poet

 

Who laid down words and walked away

Beyond the time of urgency

The capturing of words

To engage a passing reader

 

In this quiet space

In this corner of an imagined place

Sitting in front 

 

Of an untidy dreadful table
 

Commissioned by the National Poetry Library as part of Constructing Spaces. In partnership with graduates of the Poetry School’s MA in Writing Poetry.