[ross hamilton hill]

For Robert Clawson
The Milky Way when seen from a clear of pollution vantagepoint is literally like a stain of milk in parts, there are so many stars it appears like clouds, even a carpet of white, it is patchy but I think those in the Northern Hemisphere forget or don't know what it's like. As for the poem, it is a marvel of the craft. For me quite slow and stately, perhaps too much so, but still wonderfully composed. I think the last line also fails, if 'fiat' was singualr perhaps, but for me 'how fair the fiats' immediately conjurs up a traffic jam in Genova.