THE CONSTITUTION OF THINGS Conspiracy of spaces tautened with energies. It could ust happen that I wal!

straight through a wall or put "y hand through a ta#le. Then we "ay all #e ghosts. One day the apple will not fall #ut hang in the air #elow "y hand.

E$EG% spat out each day his green phleg"& for the sea crept in his lungs ships all this ti"e sliding fro" the ri'er"outh their foghorns along the coast wa!ing the sea and he too went gra'eward weary of his #ody(house sea growing wide in his chest

)OTO*+,% -I*.S roo!s #lac! co"panions of torn ru##er cast along the lay(#ys untidy with wind( wrenched feathers flap down to noise(le'el where people e"erge fro" cars !estrels /ui'ering dip slide the #alance of wind pin out the green line of their "otorway& eyes focus down& pic! off "inute war" traffic of "ice and 'oles

01023 $ETTE* F*O) )OSCO+ 4re"e"#er the things that ,nton4s "other used to pile upon the ta#le& pastries and duc! and fruit5 Now e'eryone eats dogs and horses we ha'e a new ad"inistration "y hair is 'ery white I wish ,nton were ali'e4

GU$$I6E*4S $I$I7UT ,t first they sewed "e to the earth with a "illion threads. $ater& I too! their fleets& to stop a war. I pissed on their #urning palace. -ac! ho"e& life is not the sa"e.

$IGHT ,N. *,IN In the spray #ehind cars and wagons rain#ows shifted& half(for"ed. $ight& cutting down fro" ledges of cloud& shattered neatly through pris"s of fine rain& spanning two arcs across the "otorway. +e dro'e through a pu""elling wind& the dri'er tal!ing only of floods in the west. Those #rief ele"ental #ridges hung always #efore us& i"passa#le. -ehind us in our spray we churned pris"s for those who followed.

TUT,N8H,)EN4S ,NTECH,)-E* Cluttered& a child4s roo"& wic!er chairs& #o9es& wooden ani"als of "any colours and four chariots inlaid with gold& glass and precious stones. +here'er he4s gone& he4s left all this #ehind.

SE,FO*. For Sarah loo! where the tide has dropped scores of white cuttlefish #ones to glea" on the stony shore ta!e these two to !eep as the sun suc!s the ocean fro" the" their #rac!ish "e"ory will ree! till they4re as clean of odour as they are of flesh I ha'e a picture of you leaning #ac! on the seawall a #rittle white frag"ent in your fingers

IN )E)O*I,N ,. -EC8 Our lea'ing cars crac!le on the gra'el dri'e and the roo!s4 tall trees shudder in the chill. It was not long ago you wal!ed in the new snow. There is no news now.

CH,$ET out on the dar! sea the #uoy4s light flic!ed on and off its #ell struc! with each long swell in the chalet on the clay cliff& grey fossils fro" the #each now in "y poc!et& I passed the door of the roo" where "y young cousin slept and as the #ell struc! and the light flic!ed I heard hi" whi"per fro" ti"e to ti"e

SI)7$E THINGS 0. such si"ple things appear to re"ind us ( a single strand of hair entwined in a shoelace such si"ple things appear: nothing stronger than a hair ;. ,pril3 England and ,frica ,frica4s heat "a!es roads tre"#le and "elt. %ou tra'el with so"eone else. Stepping fro" his $and *o'er in dusty 'illage streets to #uy oranges. The people stare at your white #eauty. +et with the "orning4s snow the pear tree is in flower at the #otto" of "y cool garden.

<. +hen She Sleeps a /ui'er of war" li"#s a delicate stillness asleep now& she is all her own and when she "o'es she does not !now which way she turns =. the window strea"ed with rain and the rain stripped the lilac #y the wall when you ca" #ac! fro" the e"pty house you stood #y the door the rain tasted sweet on your "outh >. her fingers trace patterns in the dust on a walnut ta#le her pressed and silent lips "a!e no secret of her wish to lea'e it was not always li!e this

THE NO*TH SE, ,T T%NE)OUTH The sea folds o'er upon itself again and again& suc!s and chews the shore till roc!s #eco"e sand. Ships ride along its #ac!. So"eti"es the water in'ades the" and they drown. .ar!ness #egins only a couple of feet #elow& e9tending through acres of cool co"pression where the sil'er shoals gra?e. *eturning along the pier I watch a pilot4s #oat greeting a 'isitor. Surely they too ha'e felt& e'en on the stillest of days& a sudden 'ertigo on the sea4s heights5

E.C.T. She con'ulses. I"ages #urn up& "e"ories and words fla"e away for good. She falls #ac! to a scorched land. +a!efulness co"es together in frag"ents of light. She crawls up to it to a #ed in a strange roo". She sees a chair and the clothes on it& pale #lue eans and a white shirt. Her slow eyes trac! to a cloudless window then #ac! to the chair again. For a long ti"e she stares& una#le to understand. She #egins to cry& not recognising her own clothes.

+H% SHOU$. ,N%ONE -E HE*E ,N. SINGING5

0.7U*7$E S,F,*I .,+NS Co"forta#le 'oices of the not(#adly(off co"e prancing out of "y radio3 )o"#asa nights& Nairo#i days& the sta#le regi"es and purple safari dawns: giraffe and ga?elles shot with Ni!on& 7enta9& *icoh. -itter with "y e"pty poc!ets and hours I let the" pin "aps on the walls of "y #rain& i"agine I stand #y the wagon to watch wilde#eest and ?e#ra gra?ing in the ha?e& the sli" girl with golden li"#s shading her eyes as she hands "e the latest lightweight #inoculars. ,d usting the lens I see only the dead sand of a "illion years: tall& slow("o'ing wa'es of it. I turn to spea!& #ut the co"forta#le people ha'e gone.

;. F*EE ),*8ET ECONO)% astronaut shades reflecting dou#les the "an steps off his "otor#i!e @>Acc crea!s in #lac! leather up to the roo" good stuff this no drec! co!e I can get you speed anyti"e acid as well so"e old peyote #uttons or "escalin caps ne9t wee! no sweat need any s"ac! #ush I got plenty Scottish ho"egrown lotsa seeds red le# too or oil if you li!e or e'en so"e crac! ust gi'e "e the word his chee! is poc!ed li!e a lunar tract he plugs the gaps in the che"ical "ar!et lea'ing his clients da?ed with new goods the folded notes crac!ling #etween leather and s!in

<. )O6IE(CIT%

.on4t stare at the "oon& you4ll start seeing ghosts ( "o'ie(line ad'ice I gi'e to "yself to no a'ail. Through the wings of the ur#an twilight II scuttle ho"e& playing the one(line e9tra still. 7erhaps ne9t wee! the "a or part will arri'e3 the call of the shops& new clothes& war" flat& endless credit and three "eals a day. The "oon4s sil'er "adness crac!ling in "y #lood thrills li!e a"pheta"ine hope. It all #egan in such an ordinary way B the traction of wor! to a populous place. -ad luc! is ust a ?one I4" passing through& where 'a"pires sni'el and twitch and ?o"#ies dance li!e ro#ots. One day I4ll lea'e it all #ehind in its gli""er of putrescence.

=. NEIGH-OU*S IN SOHO ,ccepting the Fat )an4s free in'itation we enter a roo" where "en sit alone& washed #lue #y the light of screens. The sa"e na!ed actors in a tiny flat play the sa"e old story of hu"p& suc! and er!. In #lac! fishnet tights and leotard a wo"an ser'es lager that4s watery& war" and sour. The Fat )an stares down your clea'age& tal!ing of parties at his country house. He offers you wor! at the #ar. %ou refuse. The "usic continues while the fil"s are changed and the leotard wo"an has loaded the tray. She4s wal!ing to a door #eside the screens& to a roo" where there4s no free entry.

>. F$I*T,TION 420

Ister& Hister& she says& the girl in #lac! whose "essage is eye#all se9& flirting in #ars with hoi polloi of the student classes i"pressed with her !nowledge of Nostrada"us. She4s forgotten Harry4s na"e& #ut he doesn4t care& lost in loss and #itter: Tha"es is $ethe for all he !nows& carrying condo"s and corpses to the Isle of .ogs. ,pocalypse& she "utters& and the #oys around her shudder with lust& each a "arine with a "egaton desire predestined to i"plode in frustration. Harry4s away in the #lue #ase"ent of a drea"& watching a sea without walls fro" a #each of #lue sand where a tic!er(tape snic!ers the single word& war.

C. ,E*I,$ SU*6EI$$,NCE These helicopter char"s delight only the fans of authority& who want for nothing and are not o#ser'ed. )inisters are high& drafting laws to free factories fro" their wor!ers and wor!ers fro" their o#s. The chopper strays fro" its ri'er course& its 'ideo #ulge scanning council estate and rented sector& while .Ds !owtow to royalty& their co""on conte"pt for the populace coo!ing the city li!e a "icrowa'e.

@. ONE )O*E one "ore rush of wind on a crowded platfor"& one "ore drun! asleep on a #ench& one "ore nutter with a #lit?ed #rain screa"ing& one "ore s"ashed(up telephone& one "ore night of sirens& one "ore ruc! of s!ins shouting !ill the niggers& one "ore stranger4s "ale'olent stare& one "ore roo" at a cri"inal rent& one "ore landlord trying it on& one "ore late train not arri'ing& one "ore #ar"an passing short change& one "ore "iddle(class pig pushing in with his girlfriend& one "ore pi"p gi'ing a Soho win!& one "ore per'ert #uying in flashcu#es& one "ore corpse for the ri'er police& one "ore trip to the social& one "ore ti"e

2. .,NN%4S .E7,*TU*E +hen the lines "o'e to collapse there4s no one there to help you hold the #ro!en ridgepole up. %ou s"ile in the #ar& delirious as the rest of the"& the sa'age green spring pushing you aside li!e a stranger fro" yourself. , house you can4t inha#it: it4s all you can do to pay the rent and lea'e your !eys on the !itchen ta#le3 three(day etsa" in the -eachy Head foa".

1. H,**% TO D,C8 IN THE UN.E*G*OUN. Dac!& you4re #ringing "e down with all your pointless stories& this endless dri'e round the circuit of grief in your scarred prophetic car. ,ll I want is to stay in one place. to sleep a hundred years and ne'er drea" once of parties& pills and ecstasy. The car4s off the road& Dac!& the angels are truly tired. They4ll not rise to your su""ons& fat old "an rushing underground& lonely as ,"erica.

0A. *EC8ONING Fate4s tally"an totting up your indiscretions is calling in your de#ts. %ou thought your credit was good for a long ti"e yet #ut there4s no way round with e9planations B lipstic! stains on coffee(cups& those scratch"ar!s on your #ac!. E'erything4s #een so sweet& li!e the green grapes you #ought one "orning fro" a stall outside the tu#e. Her #irthday. %ou found a #rown leaf the si?e of two large hands to gi'e her as a gift. She !ept it& "oist with handcrea"& on her #edside ta#le. Now you re"e"#er her fine& soft hair& the odour of her leather ac!et& and there4s nothing you can say.

00. THE .,%S IN -ET+EN I !now the days in #etween: awa!e to a "orning li!e this& the city4s #reath dusting "y sill with "ono9ides. On the stair& nothing #ut "ail for the pre'ious tenants. , day when I tal! with no one #ut "yself and the "an who sells "e cigarettes. I4" wal!ing through white(walled streets down to the #an!s where house#oats lodge on the #lac! na!ed #ac! of the ri'er4s "ud. .usty Dune& the water is low. The heart endures the un#eara#le one "ore day& its auto"atic thud of hope and collapse. Suddenly I taste the flush of panic. $i!e "etal. $i!e #lood.

THE $E,N ),N SH,6ING These hungry loo!s would4'e worried Caesar. That4s no porcine friend in the glass& no pliant "an. I practise a 'ulpine s"ile. )y energy flows inward& a#stracting& storing up li!e #rown fat in dense& thin layers. Ti"e for nothing #eyond "y own purpose. $ea'es shi'er in the dar!ness& pric!ling Caesar4s scalp. The unsheathing of !ni'es is what he heard. Sideways on& conspirators sli" as #lades& with a hunger patience whets. I could wish for "ore fat on these angular aws. Tight& shiny s!in cannot conceal the restless #one #eneath. He4d seen the sa"e things in the glass when young& testing sharp canines with a fingertip. Caesar was a lean "an& too.

THE G,*.EN ENC$OSE. fro" a painting #y .a'id Dones The postcard I would ha'e sent you stands on "y #oo!shelf& years later& its colours wea! fro" doses of sun. Their faces are together& his lips against hers& while the geese go running into the wood. E'erything leans to the left as if the painter had drawn the" with his head inclined. The girl4s stiff #ody #ends away li!e the s"ooth for!ed li"#s of the trees. In the par! #y ri'er you tal!ed of a prisoner4s childhood. Here in the city you could #e free at last. )onths after& this card in "y hand and the words in "y head failing at #ridges& I felt li!e a child #eaten and #anished fro" a fruitful place. %ou are not li!e her& I thought& the painted girl half(resisting what4s already e"#raced. -ut fro" the other side of the ri'er you ne'er phoned& seldo" wrote. Friends who saw you noticed a change& the untidy flat& its air of #urnt weed and alcohol. 7erhaps when the #oy is gone the girl pic!s up her #lue discarded doll& goes #ac! to tending her pri'ate garden. In the picture it4s still the sa"e su""er& the yellow lea'es ha'e ust #een pluc!ed and the geese run off in alar". These two were ne'er li!e us.

THE $O.GE* For eighteen "onths he re"ained a series of sounds& the single "an upstairs who no#ody !new& fro who" no letters arri'ed& nor friends. His slow soft footsteps ca"e and went at /uiet unattended "o"ents. So"eti"es I heard a record repeatedly played& a cow#oy la"enting a faithless wide. $ater at night he4d rearrange ta#le& chair and wardro#e as if there4d #een so"ething wrong the way he4d done it the wee! #efore. Seasons passed in our treeless road: his personal sounds #eca"e as natural to "e as #irdsong& traffic or the tic!ing of wood that cools in the dar!. One spring "orning police arri'ed. For a day there was silence until he returned. That night the furniture scraped and #anged and the cow#oy la"ented endlessly& louder than #efore.

G*E% E'en when su""er drags off the sla##ed clouds a greyness re"ains. $i!e tasteless gas 'acancy e9pands o'er wor!#ench& yard and factory. 7eople tric!le away as if their "inds also were s"eared with grey. +hen I see the" I recall "y fore#ears in this graceless town& and "y #ac! aches for the"& enduring under such low ceilings.

EEE*CISE Co"ing down fro" the high windy "oors we4d wal!ed half(way through the" #efore we noticed. On either side of the road they lay as if resting& rifles lowered& hel"ets and unifor"s sprouting the coarse grass and heather which grew a#out the". Their #lac!ened faces #arely regarded us as we passed #etween. ,n officer stood #y the radio "an: the tall& thin aerial twitched and swayed. No one spo!e or "ade a sound. +e held our silence till out of their circle. -ehind us they "erged #ac! into the earth in their stillness listening for a "essage to stri!e the /ui'ering twig& waiting for the "o"ent when& lifting their rifles and u"ping up& they4d #egin again.

*EGI)ENT,$ ,SSOCI,TION .INNE* .,NCE Her uncle in ar"a"ents deli'ers the "ain speech. $i!e a s"ooth horse his 'oice leaps lightly across the "oral ditches. I wonder if he sleeps well of a night& drea"ing of tan!s and artillery.

He leads such an interesting life& she say as we dance& he gets to tra'el so "uch.
Thirty(three and single& she4s a nurse. Her father4s had co""ands all o'er Europe. She tal!s as the "usic plays& her 'oice& too& li!e a pony& trotting& trotting.

SO$.IE*S ON EEE*CISE children play ga"es of death lying down to u"p up again #ut these whose for"s e/uip"ent distorts till e'en the s"allest runs dwarfli!e when there4s no refuge in pa9 scorch in the #last that4s not a #ree?e sliced #y "etal harsher than grass lie down to rot and ne'er rise

STO*IES F*O) THE 7,*8& 010C Not unhandso"e& a petit(#ourgeois gentle"an strolling in South 7ar!& he sur'eys the #usy tennis(courts& the pathways and the flowers. These he con'erts into wee!ly prose& pin! paper cuttings in a s"all green folder. +ar news #lurs through the #ac! of glue(#uc!led pages3 *USSI,NS .EST*O% ,UST*I,N +O*8S INEEO*,-$E 7USH OF THE ,$$IES. Cancer awaits the #low fro" a #all rising too swiftly for his #at one Sunday at a friendly "atch. Surgeons will re"o'e the rancid gut. In e9change for another ten years half a lifeti"e will fall away till he lies in a colu"n of print flan!ed #y +esleyans and spiritualists. Today in sunshine he pauses in front of the ,ustrian pines. That unhappy land B he sees the words already in print& /uelling the pro#le" Trees of the Ene"y Nations.

No tree hardier& he "u"#les& catching a scent& as he thing& of the ,lps3 fresh& clean and healthy: a place a#o'e all for the sports"an& li!e hi"self.

CFECH F,)I$% 7HOTOS IN , $ON.ON DUN8SHO7 ,ngular pastel designs strea! the #lac!ness #etween photographs& drawn #y a caring hand& perhaps #y one ofhte two young girls who appear fro" one page to another& in long coats and !nee(length #oot& s"iling in a street or on the steps of a #uilding surrounded #y snow. They4'e co"e all the way fro" warti"e 7rague& the girls who sat with their fa"ily at ho"e or picnic!ed #y a strea" where their dog& 8a"erad& swa" with a stic! in his "outh. They "a!e "e see "yself li!e the"& four decades hence& unna"ed a"ong "y own people and places& when so"e stranger in a dusty shop one afternoon& pic!ing up an al#u" of pictures& tries to i"agine the 'oices& the loo!s& the do"estic details. The al#u"4s not full. It stops without a date at a young "an in unifor"& his coat #uttoned tightly to the throat. He stands& straight and na"eless& in a field& alone. , #lac! silence #egins here which no one has tried to fill. I close the #oo! and lea'e the" to their pri'acy.

F*O) THE -$,C8 CUI$$IN 7E,8S The #rittle roc! holds up its own dar! nature& so full of friction you feel you could cli"# with na!ed fingers and feet to the highest ?one of attrition. In this clean He#ridean light e9tending through na"eless #lues of sea and air& the #urn has dwindled to a thin white stillness& and fro" the soft surrounding #rown of its heather cuc!oos call. So"ewhere on a steep grey slope scree tin!les and rolls fro" a wal!er4s #oot. %ou tilt your head& a#ruptly aware& gra'ity4s hunger& under it all.

IC,*US Earth is full of "onsters so "y father taught "e i"prisoned in the tower. I gulped the war" freedo" of air a little too "uch& and the wa9 dri##led on "y ar"s. -ecause the water lo'ed "e I ga'e "y #reath to it sluicing its cool #rine slowly through cha"#ers of heart and #one. I swi'el on the sea(#ed now with wings too hea'y to lift and "o'e at the pro"pting of tides ato" #y ato" "y flesh un#onding.

$E,. the #uildings are de"olished or cru"#ling& powder(house and s"elting("ill the long flues collapsing up the hill tic(ridden #rac!en thic!ens to the water4s edge still I pic! stones li!e a child eager to find unearthed ore dusting "y fingers with its weighty presence

poison& said "other wash your hands when you4'e touched it

the cool #ec! lic!s "y fingers clean and does not die

TH,T SHI7 %ou watch that ship fro" the certainty of shore& far off& "otionless perhaps& of half(su#"erged under the future4s ri". So"eti"es it will pass& cruising close #y& une9pectedly swift and easeful. So close you can hear its engines and gli"pse shadowy still figures who stare and do not wa'e. +ho !nows when the last stage #egins& one "inute on shore then suddenly a#oard& watching land slide away& as if it were a drea"& heading for the unli"ited sea5

.E-T He stayed a year& eating his pi??as off the fridge(top #ecause he wouldn4t sit with the others. In the "orning he4d cheese the air with yoga in the li'ing(roo". He didn4t li!e the girl& #ut she paid hi" no "ind. The other "en ignored hi". ,fter he left he so"eti"es called in& carrying his #lac! i"portant #riefcase. He4d lay it on the floor& thu"#ing its co"#ination to re'eal the papers of his latest endea'our. They #egan to forget hi" then one day found his lost wallet down the side of a chair. They disposed of it and and guilt they felt& after they too! the "oney. He owed the" they rec!oned& for a year4s unfriendliness: surely a loss he4d already accepted.

C*OCO.I$ES Guiet as linen folded in a cup#oard& cal" as "il! and steady as #read& e'erything do"estic B weighed and washed& wrapped& capped and #inned. Then I shine a torch into e'ery #o9& e'ery shelf of dar!ness& saying& loo!& no crocodiles& to "y daughter& who4s #een frightened #y a picture in a #oo!. %esterday a woodlouse was a crocodile. So was a wor"& then a spider. No& I e9plained& crocodiles are #ig& li!e this& stretching "y ar"s wide& li!e a fisher"an. -ut anything will do for a night"are& e'en a lady#ird on the leg of a chair. That4s when lo'e #rea!s in "e& and plu""ets& helpless as Niagara.

THE SENTI)ENT,$ ),N CONSI.E*S SNO+ children lo'e it li!e a new toy #uilding their legless people along the ri'er#an! when did I cease to lo'e it5 So"eti"e in the city its delicate arri'al turning to slush on the road to wor!

,$-ION4S 7O6E*T% T*EE it roots in cellars of unread #oo!s and ancient ser'itude it splits the house& the "arriage #ed& the nursery en'y and spite are its e'ergreen lea'es so tight its #ranches no light can pass through its shade is he"loc! its trun! a #lac! #attering rod see the roof e9plode in a cloud of shrapnel "essages house after house& a #rutal s!yline it will "a!e a forest it will eat the sun

TE,*ING she4s crying in the street and won4t let go I can4t hear their 'oice #ut their hands #eco"e "ouths grips hi" #y the ar" or ties hi" #y the nec! he ta!es each wrist and holds it up and pushed her #ac! #ut she4s li!e a spring and !eeps on returning he4s progressing slowly a few feet #ac!ward each ti"e and she4s losing hi" and !nows it #ut can4t stop and the "ore she understands it the greater her despair and the "ore she cries for hi" the further it dri'es hi" and I can4t watch any "ore of this hurting for #oth of the"

, SUITC,SE FU$$ OF O$. $O6E $ETTE*S ,l"ost& that is. ,l"ost all lo'e letters and al"ost full. ,nd photographs& the four(strips ta!en drun!enly in "achines outside the tu#e. %ou with a cigarette& gi'ing "e that loo!: us !issing& "e swearing. +e loo! li!e so"eone else4s children. There are #etter to ways to end than #adly. That4s what I learned fro" the days when I used to s"o!e.

, NUC$E,* F,)I$% in this one the father is wea! #ecause of his #rea!down and has hated the neigh#ours fro" the day they "o'ed in it4s al"ost as if he isn4t there any "ore he hardly tal!s to the children two daughters do"inated #y their a"#itious "other who has pretensions to class #la"ing hi" always hi" for who" she ga'e up e'erything while he has gi'en up on their "arriage which has soured through e'ery distillation of disappointed status and se9 though neither will end it hi" #ecause it4s not done and he4s too helpless to loo! after hi"self her #ecause she4s not strong enough to sur'i'e on her own not ha'ing had wor! since the children and anyway for people of their generation it4s si"ply not done so the children grow up in this cold warped cli"ate with the snapping songs of disenchant"ent in their heads paying attention to eti/uette and how the neigh#ours thin! according to their parents4 gospel and learning nothing a#out lo'e or honesty or war"th and they get along fine till they argue o'er a dress or a friend or so"ething tri'ial in their teens and don4t spea! to each other for fi'e years co""unicating 'ia "other or father at the ta#le as if they ere at a co""ittee "eeting one of the" en'ying the other for her loo!s the other en'ious of her sister4s intelligence and "other loo!ing on playing off one against the other with I4" not well again it4s your father and her ill(health he4s so selfish you wouldn4t #elie'e it while he fades e'en further into uni"portance ignoring the wielding of guilt li!e a cattle(prod on his daughters and as they grow she #erates the younger you4re a failure ust li!e your father co"paring her

with the fa'ourite who "a!es a success out of "oney "arriage and "otherhood how you disappoint "e pursuing her li!e a fury so she drifts drin!s fails at this and that tries a couple of suicides fails sur'i'es dries out drifts on while she sees her sister hardening to a salty pillar of stone li!e "other always critical and condescending and her father dried up to a grey silent ghost in his own household it4s all his fault you don4t !now the half of it the things he "ade "e suffer the litanies of the self(da"ned ingling to the sa"e tunes so the years pass and she ta!es a trip #ac! to find one su""er afternoon her "other with a #rush and apot of paint drawing a white line through the "iddle of the house across the doorstep lino carpet saying he4s done it now he4s got what he wanted and pointing with the #rush that4s his side of the house this is "ine he4s not allowed on this side any "ore and she doesn4t e'en say hello #ut carries on with her tas! while her daughter #earing her thirty(three years li!e a #o9 of #ro!en china wal!s away fro the last ti"e without a word

THE FO*GOTTEN Spreti& your face co"es #ac! to "e this autu"n dawn for no reason I can recall: posthu"ous fa"e in the #re'ity of news& you and your assassins& who saw the unifor" #eneath the s!in& that "ar!ed you as an ene"y. Still& this is the way of things: news that is not news& while the trees seal off their lea'es and let the" fall. In a go'ern"ent office a typist cuts her thu"# on the edge of paper. She is too young to re"e"#er your na"e& your face& your fingers in a rigor a#out the #ro!en spectacles resting on your chest. $ea'es fall& nu"erous as "e"os. There is no end to the freshness of 'icti"es.

C*,GSI.E

HNorthu"#rian ho"e of ,r"strong& the ,r"a"ents 8ingI

He dined on 'enison& pheasant& #eef: "ade a sweet "icrocli"ate for hi"self with dyna"ite and a "illion trees. See how tall they4'e grown ( spruce& larch& yew& se/uoia ( fro" sloping shallows of acid soil. No ghost steps fro" their shade to say& *e"e"#er us who "ade his wealth for nothing #ut a #ent #ac! and a short life. In the !itchen cutlery is laid out for all to see3 !ni'es and for!s with #ig #one handles& #ig enough for a giant. , pine(cone& sealed up with all its seeds& drops grenade(li!e to the needle(soft path. The innocent trees& a century old& still stri'e slowly toward the sun.

THE 7*O7HEC% OF CH*ISTOS )y future in the "ud of a coffee(cup& drying on a tissue3 children& di'orce& wor! a#road& It4s li!e staring down a well of gold& his wife translated. He "ight as well ha'e #een po!ing a stic! in the guts of chic!en or scanning the fractures on a scorched roc!. +hen half is untrue& then what of the rest5 So"eti"es I thin! it4s either still to co"e& or so"eone else has got "y well of gold and left "e with the sludge of prophecy.

+,TE* It changes things. Dust loo! at what the sea does to pe##les and #ric! and frag"ents of glass. E'en the roc! of this "ountain #efore us gets worn and worried #y generations of rain. -it #y #it the roc!s #elow are carting it away to the sea. The sea& as we !now& has "ountains of its own ( its #riny wor! is ne'er done. E'ery day it sends "ore clouds to re"ind us how things "ust change.

,C8NO+$E.GE)ENTS ,N. OTHE*

The 7rophecy of Christos was first pu#lished #y Dac!son4s ,r" H$incolnI in 011;.
,c!nowledge"ents are due to the editors of the following3 $a Carta de Oli'er H,rgentinaI& Foolscap& 7anoply HUS,I& 7oetry J ,udience& Scratch& Slow .ancer& S"o!e& Tees 6alley +riter& The +ide S!irt& I"ages for ,frica& and High on the +alls H)orden TowerK-looda9e -oo!s& 011AI. Other poe"s are drawn fro" the following collections3 The Constitution of Things HNorthern House& 022=I& +hy Should ,nyone -e Here ,nd Singing5 HEcho *oo" 7ress& 012@I and The $ean )an Sha'ing HDac!son4s ,r"& 0122I. Typography3 Dohn +ardle Co'er design3 Geoffrey )ar! )atthews