Hello Grasshopper,
                   Thanks for your feedback and comments, glad you enjoyed the piece. Truly, philosophising is my greatest vice, but as vices go I suppose it´s a fairly innocuous one. In fact, too innocuous? Maybe I should start cultivating some new species if I ever hope to be dangerous to know LOL.


Best wishes,   Mike




--- Alkuperäinen viesti ---
Dear Mike,
   I think this is my favourite of your poems I've read here, perhaps
because I feel you are letting the descriptions of the place speak, without
feeling the need to give a philosophical commentary about it. And the
details do speak very effectively. There's a timeless, almost mythical
atmosphere in this poem, and I like the ending, open and promising.
Very enjoyable altogether.
Kind regards,
    grasshopper

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Horwood" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 2:36 PM
Subject: [THE-WORKS] New sub: The Modern Age


The Modern Age

I am on my way to the region that is not a place.
                   Paavo Haavikko,  trans. Anselm Hollo

The medieval mists have evaporated
and the marsh has been drained
in the interests of efficiency.
Palaces of glass and steel stand
where stagnant water once stood.
There are no eternal beings here
where stockbrokers and company directors
follow the eternal laws of economics.

The night is barely a breath
between the hammer strokes of day.
Main line trains rush like chariots
in heroic tales to their destinations;
commuters flood the streets on their way
to do battle with rising costs and damp
while for some there´s lunch, then golf at three.
Yet the marsh birds still fly up at sunset.

But I am about to leave this poem
and journey to the region that is not a place,
where sunlight slides up the face of crystal towers,
mounts the backs of suburban houses
and fills the morning coffee cups.
Insects clutch a trembling blade
to drink the dew. The sea
is not so far away, and waiting.




Mike