I was going to say that, living in Edmonton AB, which likes to tear down anything older than 20 years or so, that that might be a reason I had some problems. But then I remembered that back at the end of the 19th century, there were mine tunnels under what is now the ‘modern’ city here, too.
Anyway, the poem still does the job…
Doug
On May 29, 2015, at 5:40 AM, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Not unlike. Just built on in S W London.
> Went down to Worcester Pk on a bus the other day. Looking out of the bus
> window, I had not known death etc....
> Spent some time with my friend Richard recently - he with whom I have
> endeavoured to write of Australian landscape
> He lives in a small place on the coast, a few islands and then the next
> stop is the Antartic; and he was finding it quite difficult to cope with
> the idiocy of the London electorate when it tries to walk. I was crossing
> Exhibition Road with him (god knows why but he wanted to be there) and a
> woman walked open eyed towards us as we reached the V & A side pavement,
> then turned round to speak to someone behind her, still walking, crashed
> into him and then just stared blankly, like an insect that one has sought
> to kill but only maimed - or like perhaps the robots I heard about
> yesterday on the BBC (the Tories haven't killed it yet) Radio 4 - designed
> to prioritise rescue, they do not know when they are injured but infer it
> and keep experimenting with different means of locomotion till they find
> something that works... If they don't find a way I suppose they just roll
> around, limbs flailing, till their batteries run down
>
> I was in Pembrokeshire a few days ago; and was struck how even in Pembroke
> and the like this did not happen. I was considering the possibility of
> raacial difference, but of course it's just that there aren't so many of
> them; it isn't so crowded
>
> There are lots of tunnels in London and since 2010 the indigines of those
> holes have taken heart. One day, they believe, all of southern england will
> be theirs; and unlit
>
> L
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> On 29 May 2015 at 10:20, Patrick McManus <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Hey Lawrence this sounds like the hinterland between Raynes Park and
>> Sutton-Piskies malign spirits all that crowd cheers P very old spirit
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>> Behalf Of Lawrence Upton
>> Sent: 29 May 2015 09:19
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Snap: Pendeen
>>
>> It's poorly titled.
>> Nothing to do with the lighthouse.
>> The place of the lighthouse gives its name to the hinterland and so to the
>> 19th century town built there.
>> Before that, there were a number of villages - Portherras Cross and
>> Boscaswell -- now parts of Pendeen. Then there was Pendeen House and its
>> surrounding estate, still separate. But with the development and spread of
>> mines, where mine buildings were not, mine workers houses were.
>> I'm thinking here of what is under the ground - the tunnelling...
>> spirits... not just Piskies which are *relatively benign but older ideas
>> which are from human point of view malign.
>> Until recently, on the hills around. all close, there were open shafts and
>> adits; and they are being capped now -- mine companies just pullled out,
>> leaving their mess and danger Subsequent to first writing I have placed
>> poems on the map. This one was originally called "towards Pendeen" but that
>> could mean anything if you don't know where I am walking from. That project
>> wasn't working, but I left the remnants of the title as a trap for the
>> reader to fall in Better I had left it untitled or some such I shall cap it
>> now
>>
>> best
>>
>> L
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 26 May 2015 at 21:18, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> feels vague & specific all at once, L. the language the latter for
>>> sure; but I m not sure how it relates to Pendeen (if the lighthouse)?
>>>
>>> so i like the rhythm of it, the moves,,,
>>>
>>> D
>>> On May 26, 2015, at 9:58 AM, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> they knock
>>>>
>>>> one to each
>>>>
>>>> under ground
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> below even dead soil
>>>>
>>>> in something else
>>>>
>>>> among heats
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> they bring
>>>>
>>>> light
>>>>
>>>> such as there is
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> and it sways
>>>>
>>>> and it makes them shadows
>>>>
>>>> and it fades
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I hear them
>>>>
>>>> trafficking
>>>>
>>>> far
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> under foot
>>>>
>>>> further than
>>>>
>>>> sky's clarity
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> between
>>>>
>>>> the starry
>>>>
>>>> glimmering
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> they seek
>>>>
>>>> if only to
>>>>
>>>> abandon
>>>
>>> Douglas Barbour
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations &
>>> Continuation 2 (UofAPress).
>>> Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
>>>
>>> There is no life that does not rise
>>> melodic from scales of the marvelous.
>>>
>>> To which our grief refers.
>>>
>>> Robert Duncan.
>>>
>>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuation 2 (UofAPress).
Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
There is no life that does not rise
melodic from scales of the marvelous.
To which our grief refers.
Robert Duncan.
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