My dreams take speed
Be simple justSay what you see to whom you choose to say
So is my desk then altar or alterity?
I bite on lifeThe bitterness will daunt but not defeat me
And I hear youI can never give you voice
My dreams take speedMy Baghdad dreams take speedMy rest my head against the pillow of the westMy dare not closeMy eyes my sail onBaleful
Exclamation bombs my BaghdadI slow witted all my dreaming lovely disinheritedMy magic near the edgeI love the edgeI love its line by line disdain
You don'tHave long to liveSweet parliamentAnd worseDeclaratory vat behind the archiveYou have never had a heaven to go on to
Heaven knows.
The smoke the boxing ring
The gypsy ash ofSeven homely hills
Your table cloth still knowsThe knowing burnsThe smiling scars
For here is one who livesAnd takesAnd kills
Go quicklyCorner him and shredHis punch-drunk dreamsBetween the stars.
Birth poem
LuchaYou are poetryIn social and surprise
My comrade strenuousAnd straining
AndOur daughterSimply openingAnd searching withHer eyes.
Dr John Falzon is Chief Executive of the St Vincent de Paul Society National Council.