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- Herausgeber: Carcanet Poetry
- Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
that which appears gathers together four book-length sequences; The Hundred Thousand Places, Yellow & Blue and Farm by the Shore, all previously published by Carcanet, plus the title book, that which appears, published by Paragon Press (1994). The poems gathered in that which appears emerge from a practice of walking in the varied landscapes of the highlands and islands of Scotland. They attempt to attend and respond to the evidence, to 'snow on moss on stone', with 'small continual adjustments'. A conviction grows that environmental damage can only begin to be repaired by many careful and repeated acts of attention. How can we move here with resourcefulness and least intrusion? Can poetry be generous in response while subject to an ethic of care for place and particularity? Can it provide spaces that will allow for, that welcome and celebrate, that which appears?
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THOMAS A CLARK
that which appears
CARCANET POETRY
Contents
That Which Appears
9
it is early
a trickle of stones
released by light from ice
tumbles across the path
10
beyond the deer fence
a stag bellows
unseen in
dawn light
in the possibility
before things
find their limits
11
the walls of the old fort
wait
in the truce of the morning
12
a granite mass
inserted into granulite
with veins of pegmatite
intrusions of
felsite and porphyry
13
the mountains continually
crumble away
broken by the cold
into which
they lift themselves
14
mica flakes
sparkling in granulite
like a fossilised
memory of ice
15
all is explicit
accomplished
complete
the visible
is absolute
and without weight
16
corrie of the snows
burnt rock
surging river
hill of the stranger
17
in such light
one might sleep
in such cold
never wake
18
isolated crags
and corries do not
press down on the moor
but rise above it
in an agility of white
that converts to air
19
there are marks in the snow
but no paths or trails
each step sinks deeply
where bird, deer, hare
run lightly
20
in the silence of the birchwood
snow melting from branches
in the stillness of the birchwood
snow melting from branches
21
snow on moss on stone
22
green, ochre
russet, gold
colours refreshed
and released
23
wash face with snow
taste snow
clap hands in clear air
24
up on the ridge
surrounded by light
standing at ease
on crumbling rock
25
where all is so
insistently clear
it will not do
something is hidden
a premise of which
the facts are a residue
nothing coincides
with its representation
stop look wait
the visible is fragile
the call of a whimbrel
might split it apart
26
light comes
streaming
down into
a moment
which is all
encompassing
27
it is the ache
of looking
perceives
behind appearances
that which
appears
28
heather or ling
a roughness
covering scars
29
removing a stone
to alter the melody
of a mountain burn
I listen
then place
it back again
30
on the far
lake shore
a scree slope
rising steeply
the lake water
rippling gently
in the lee
of ruin
31
lichens, droppings, stones
I bend to inspect
detail in a clarity
I cannot leave
32
this is the gift
of the afternoon
this one moment
of stillness among
evidence of collapse33
34
the way forward
is from side to side
leaping from rock to rock
pausing, balancing
taking off
progress is impossible
without gaps and lacunae
the steadying halts
the taking of breath
the absence of thought
35
ascending, descending
turning to the right
turning to the left
space opening, closing
pressure brought to bear
small continual
adjustments of the spine
the hips and shoulders
the head inclined slightly
forwards or back
36
in a succession of
departures and accommodations
I move through a space
that opens before me
that falls behind me
my perception of it
is discontinuous
a sampling of aspects
like the arcs and angles
of sky between branches
37
there is ample distance
while that which is near
in being present
exceeds itself becoming
brittle and strange
as I myself am far
from myself in
those moments in which
I am most opaque
dead bracken or rock38
39
wind in the pines
land slipping
spawn in ditches
40
for shade and company
a fern by a stone
41
in a small hollow
out of the wind
warmth is added
to clarity
42
sunlight
dust and flies
in webs
among ivy
43
the moss on the gravestone
the waters rushing by
44
a few yards from water
a heron with blood on its wing
the feathers still subtle
with dusk and distance
the lines of the body
even in collapse
speak of grace and flight
the beak of direction
only the eye has lost
its concentration
45
an old gnarled root
dried out and dishevelled
the rope still around it
that dragged it from the ground
46
parting the flow
a moss-covered boulder
sprinkled with golden
alder leaves
47
storm driven waves
lifted as spray
over a rise to feed
weed held waters
48
the pondweed is held
by water that
the pondweed holds
49
a line of pebbles
laid out on the sand
the light falls upon
each one differently
the tide flows in around
each one differently
50
among green and black boulders
the slap and the break of waters
among grey and black boulders
the leap and collapse of waters
among brown and black boulders
the swell and subsidence of waters
51
what the wave delivers
the ebb takes back
52
in the grey shoreward
advance of the waves
far out a lonely
instant of grey
arrestment and enquiry53
54
out in the wind
burning
out of the wind
glowing
55
a broken gate leading nowhere
mist closing every distance
water held in deep moss
56
mature trees spread
long branches over
an open habit
of mossed rocks
ling or heather
blaeberry and crowberry
57
standing dying trees
standing dead trees
fallen logs and stumps
eaten by insects
inhabited by birds
bryophytes and fungi
58
quiet is
replenished
growth and clearing
maintain themselves
in a steady
regeneration
59
where many trees
grow together
they modify
the weather
60
through horizontal layers
of soil, litter, shrub
the trees rise to a canopy
which is their final delay
before the breadth of the sky
61
a pool in the forest
a place where the stillness
looks back at itself
62
beneath the ripples
on the green lake
the sublucustrine
ripples of light
63
air is filtered
through pine needles
held by alder
scrubbed by juniper
64
thin frosted
birch branch
more frost
than branch
thin lichened
birch branch
more lichen
than branch
65
between birch and mist
an affinity
66
an extension
where every
direction is foiled
intention is stilled
an openness
sheltered
67
for one who forgets
who no longer waits
the crested tit will come
to the hanging lichen
68
a steady rain falling
through birch branches holding
clear rain drops
69
fissures in the bark
pathways for rain
70
the stillness is deeper
in the rain
71
a little stream passing
under the trees
reflecting
refracting
72
in darkness a light
altering in
intensity
now on and now
by a stone
73
in an ardour of stillness
moss on a stone
74
moss on the trunk
catching the light
lending to the tree
a glowing silhouette
75
a horizontal branch
the upper half in shadow
the lower half lichen stained
as if a light shone on the branch
upwards from the ground
76
as I go
through the trees
I am led
through the trees
I progress
by implication
77
a recess
