Issue 5: December 2003

Jonathan Asser | Hamish Ironside | Sally Read | Matthew Welton

JONATHAN ASSER

Cry-baby

Ragwort lobes ducked.
Grasshoppers, chafing, did it silently.

My body got emptied
of me and only the dogs were wise.

Raleigh stabilizers dug the ruts.
Cottage dwellers peeked:

fallen organist; ferret couple;
bloke who blocked fox earths

with rocks for the Dedthropshire.
Friesians bulged their eyes, crowding a grid.

Freaked-out blackbirds cordoned elms.
Dad turned back, his forearm tan farm-deep.

I watched. Our first and last expedition
along the gated track.