A poem from The Breathless Pause by Moyra Caldecott

The anniversary of a death

Trying to reconstruct a person
on the anniversary of his death
you must enter
the labyrinth of memory
with its twisting
and its turning,
its sudden shocks,
its false starts
and its blind alleys,
and its sudden revelations
of what you did not know you knew.

Someone emerges
from the shadows,
familiar,
yet unfamiliar…
substantial
yet unsubstantial.
Fading fast
leaving an ache behind…
and a question:
Did you ever really know him?

Moyra at St James Wine Vaults, Bath

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause:

While I was wasting the day

While I was wasting the day
the grass was growing,
daisies opening,
sunflowers
pushing up tall stems.

While I was wasting the day
the bee pushed its way
into a hundred foxgloves
and went home tired.

Now the light fades.
The rain wets my hair.
I smell honey suckle and musk rose
and take a deep breath
for tomorrow.

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause:

The net of pearls

Reality is not a straight line
from past to future
through the present…
but a network
of inter connections
going every which way.
When we recognise
the nodes
sitting in a garden at dawn,
watching little finches,
or flowers opening,
a pearl is formed
and shines
even in the night
when we are lonely
and far from home.

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause.

Leaving the pond
and the gentle water weeds
a swan rode the ocean.
At first,
because it was evening
and mirror still,
not knowing
the fathoms
of deep and restless currents
stirring beneath
its poised white weight,
it rested easily,
on smooth silver.

But then -
slowly -
it began to feel
the pull and tug of the tide,
the unfamiliar hidden strength
and secret power of the sea.
No longer resting,
it rode the water
like a challenge,
rejoiced to feel
the primal rhythm coursing
in its own small veins.

No longer satisfied
with pools
of still water,
the swan rode on,
and never left the sea.

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause:

Dare Darkness Grab Us

Shivering on a very small earth,
the night sky
formidable
with stars,
we pull the comforting blanket
of our love
over us,
and,
curled together,
dare Darkness grab us
and Time scatter us.

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The William Blake Birthday Book (ISBN 978-0956199904).

Revelation

The dangerous seeing eye
poised to strike at darkness.
No mild recognition,
but terror,
as meaning leaps to meaning,
like lightning on iron mountains.
Words split
in revelation.
The crust of long accustomed
shatters
and an unfamiliar landscape
is revealed.

A poem by Moyra Caldecott, from The Breathless Pause.

Sleeping
with the silver disk
of the full moon
on my forehead…
light shining
through the thick bone.
Watch how it glints
on mind mirrors,
Scatters shadows,
and seeks at last,
the tiny seed thought
that waits for birth.

Moyra Caldecott has been writing poetry for many years, and has had many poems published in magazines and anthologies. She has frequently read her poems at venues in London and the West Country. She was a member of the Dulwich Group in the 1960s and 70s, and in 2005 she was made an honorary Bard of Bath. For the first time, her best poems have been brought together in this book in celebration of her 80th birthday.

Samples from The Breathless Pause can be found here.

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