Iain Britton
pictures
at the bus stop / the girl waits /
a patient companion / she wants to know
where he’s going / which bus what direction /
who it is who stands in the dust
she wants to know about his pictures
his beautiful pictures / why he shreds them
for the seagulls / who it is who finally
pays up / goes with her
rooms to let
through my window / monuments
crumble into drunks / mixed genders
angels in shabby clothes / a crowd
hacks at the air to get a look in
they knock at places with rooms to let
you pick up another man’s junk
we’re witnesses to things as they happen
we avoid confrontations / zeroing-in
on the mischievous cackle of a river
sleeping in
cranes swivel
pick up pull down
parcels of merchandise
the bay white-washes
couples hugging lawns
intimacy is stepping
over one another
mouths gaping
at heads on flagpoles
a house pays the price
for sleeping in
Since 2008, Iain Britton has had 5 collections of poems published, plus two pamphlets, mainly in the UK. Also, his work was included in the Shearcatcher Poetry Anthology published by Shearsman Books, 2012. A new collection by Kilmog Press has just been published, with Rufus Books (Canada) publishing in 2016.