Two Poems After Neruda
by Ned Denny
i) Ocean Body lovelier than waves salt laving the sea-line and the bird whose feathers shine heedless of all my graves ii) The Sea No blood yet one single being ; death or a rose, a sole caress; the sea comes in to shape our ways, grows branches, strikes alone, can sing through man and creature, nights and days. Its essence: fire, cold. Restlessness.
Ventriloquise (2023, Carcanet Poetry)
The juxtaposition is thought-provoking and rather stark. Neither figure seems that great, to be honest.
More classics I've never seen before. I love the surprise in them. Proof that not every poem needs to be heart-wrenching. The 'small' aches and wonders of living deserve to be written about as well. 'feathers shine / headless of my graves' That's gonna stick with me all day