Two poems by Martin Figura – both come from his upcoming Arrowhead collection Whistle…
Mother
As its representative on earth she sets
the lemon meringue onto the cloth –
its perfect roundness and snowy peaks.
She divides it up with the cake knife,
cuts through the sweet crust
into the bright tartiness beneath.
We devour it; lick every last crumb
from around our mouths,
leave a shining empty plate.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Day Room
Frank sits down, straight backed
and stares ahead, not noticing
the TV’s whine or the clatter
of the table tennis, he opens
his mouth and a beam of light
comes out, cuts through the smoke
and hits the blank wall opposite.
A boy with a bicycle, boys behind
school desks – one with a cross
marked above his head, a soldier
waving from a train, a bear in a zoo,
a ship, Buckingham Palace, a young man
in a pub with a girl, a wedding day,
a baby in a Silver Cross pram, a worker
in overalls, a children’s birthday party,
a first holy communion, a holiday,
a day out at the castle,
a pebble-dashed house.
* Martin Figura left school at 15 to join the Army. He left in 1997 after 25 years to become a photographer. His work has been widely published and exhibited, including at the National Portrait Gallery. His first poetry collection The Little Book of Harm (Firewater Press) was published in 2000 and reprinted in 2001,2002 & 2003. Ahem (Eggbox) his second collection was published in 2005. He is member of The Joy of 6 with whom he has performed at numerous events and festivals, including tours of Wales and New York. He begins a touring show of Whistle, produced by Apples and Snakes, at the Ledbury Poetry Festival in July.