A Poem About A Canal

[nibbed]

I love this poem. The first read through, even though it absolutely had nothing
to do with the poem at all made me think of my recent wipe out when I tried to
take a hill. Then reading it over and over I loved it more and more. It's a poem
about two-sided unconditional love, ultimately. I'm tearing up.


A Poem About A Canal                         admittedly, the title was edgy and troubled me


She spiralled—almost shatterproof—
a victim, a stray country,
like limbs at war.
She tortured and corrupted 
and turned my bicycle into a language
that spoke to me and said:

This is your idiot culture,
this shiny system,
this laugh riot.                              what a brilliant phrase
These fractures and cracks and breaks      
are your real bones.                          heart of hearts of the matter
This acrobat is your real flesh.
You're a railway
and, despite your inhibitions, 
you have set yourself on fire
so that everyone can see
exactly what you are 
and what you fail to be.                       seemed a bit hard

We listened, 
ran off, hid, and spat
some garbled platitudes 
on a dustbin lid.                              best stanza I've read in a poem in forever.
                                                                                             

thanks shem

-nibbed