A Poetry Sporadical of Repeating Forms
A Poetry Sporadical of Repeating Forms
Blithe fool, to step out so, at this cliff’s edge,
this raging sea—did you think
about what lay before you, were you
certain, as the sun gilded your dreaming face?
This raging, see, did you think
it came from nowhere? Did you bring it forth, un-
certain, as the sun gilded your dreaming face
and hold it, glowing like a chalice to your lips?
It came from nowhere: did you bring it forth
and exult in it? How you laugh and take your joy
and hold it, glowing, like a chalice to your lips!
How are we to hold this reverie like a single moment
and exult in it? How to laugh and take our joy
and hold it in an upturned palm; not knowing why, or asking
how! Are we to hold this reverie like a single moment:
a single ruby glittering in a patchwork sea
and hold it in? An upturned palm, not knowing why, or asking
how, can yet receive a dreamer’s prize:
a single ruby glittering in a patchwork sea,
a fool’s motley, echoes of paradise
and something lost, or found. I have forgot
about what lay before you; were you
always here, what does this prescience allege?
Blithe fool, to step out so, at this cliff’s edge!
Viki Holmes is a prize-winning British poet and performer who has been living in Hong Kong since 2005. Her first collection, miss moon’s class, is published by Chameleon Press (Hong Kong) and she is co-editor of the Haven (Hong Kong) anthology of world women’s writing Not A Muse.