What needs must

I don't know
but I can tell you this

My life would fall apart without it
I wouldn't know where to look

Or what to cook in my stewing pot
'mon seul desir'. This funky groove

Stretches from the ridiculous
to the sublime, it reaches out

The first well
my last resort.

Strange fish, exotic dish
of divine madness

Not just the bread and butter
but the gravy too

It's all I need to be true

But sometimes, my animal spirits
suffer, my sensitive nature

My rash, skin deep outrage
my disenchantment.

Create a storm
before finding shelter

In the shape of a hut
the warmth of the hearth

Come back and show
where it fits and starts to stop

How it makes sense
and then it does not

Hook me, tease me, play me out
bring me nearer, reel me in

Give me more tongue on the flavour
more finger on the buzzer

Condensation, evaporation
emerge an' see

Less essence as absence.
I am on the other side

Before there is nothing is there
it's a trick done with smoke

Opaque seeming so, and so
it's a shady business, transaction

As if non-distinct occurrences
were goings on, taking place

As a moving impression, a memory
of happy and unhappy coincidence.

Give me the present, continuously
recreating those abandoned premises

Where I try to make mine
but it's way too deep for meaning

It is impossible to grasp
or be in two places at once

Gazing back through the mirror
drawing back the curtain

Who is not the first person
to go unrecognised?

Pre-suppose a subject, a kind of unrequited love
a species of beauty pining away

A silken thread, this mourning dress
rehearsal, echoes for practising apart

My heart rings out.

^

Biography

Henry Cleverly was born in London in 1962 and brought up in Devon. He studied English and philosophy at the University of East Anglia. After a brief spell in London and travels in South America, he settled in North Norfolk. He has been published in various magazines including Ambit, Celtic Dawn, the Rialto and Spokes. He has read in Norwich, London, Hull and Ilkley, appearing at the latter venues with the Weird of Mouth - a loose affiliation of poets based in North Norfolk.

He has exhibited shell and driftwood mobiles at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery as part of her Christmas show 1992. Now counter-balancing the pursuit of metaphysical lyricism with building work. He enjoys walking on the beach, staying up late and strong coffee. He is happy to give readings.

He is currently studying for the MA in Creative Writing: Poetry, at the University of East Anglia.

He has published two collections with the Laundry Press.

Walking Willacome Well, ISBN 0 9518136 0 9 1991, Stg £5 inc. P&P
Render My Heart, ISBN 0 9518136 1 7 2001,
Stg £7.50 inc. P&P

Both are obtainable from the Laundry Press, 2 Pantile Cottages, Kettlestone Road, Little Snoring, Norfolk NR21 0JE. Please make cheques payable to the author.