Poetry at Sangam

SangamHouse

 










SOCRATES

Site – Where is the pain
            In the violet corners
            Under my tongue
            at the root of language
             At the bottom of my red bag, ringing all hours
            Jesus how can you ask that
                                                          Here     Here     Here

Onset – When did the pain start
            I have thought about this a good while
            My wife says round about the time
            we got back from Corfu    but
            I kept quiet for the first four billion years

Character – What is the pain like
            Drama queen    bad Dad
            alien     vicious
            wee shite slinking up to the house
            with my fucking keys in its hand

Radiation – Does the pain radiate
            But I’m flashing like a cursor
            nail bomb
            permanent terrorist broadcast
                                    from the bottom of the sea

Associations – Any signs or symptoms associated with it
            Mother comes down to the garden in her headscarf
            with a handful of tumours
            tubers
            go get your bucket and spade, my mouse
            and help me dig them in

Time course – Does it follow any pattern
            See: history
            See also: structure
          of the novel (post-war)

Exacerbating/ relieving factors – Does anything change it
            It is not an economy
            marriage     weather-system
            tight shoe or an untuned radio
            but sometimes I watch
            as it turns on itself like a prom queen
            no-one’s watching

Severity – How bad is the pain
            Let’s take everything that’s not the pain
            Let’s gather that and hang it out in daylight
            can we
            from the dark nail?