Replete
Enough of beauty – I have devoured
small boats curtseying at anchor,
green palace-dotted hills swarming
the spice-scented shore of Asia Minor.
I couldn’t chew another mouthful
of waves, scything and winnowing light
with the wash of every passing craft,
and each heave of the ocean’s breath.
Well, maybe just one last taste,
seasoned with a pinch of myrrh:
the taxi driver says, ‘Today hot
but slow, slow, winter comes…”
Maggie Butt’s fifth poetry collection, Degrees of Twilight, is due from The London Magazine Editions and follows the illustrated Sancti Clandestini – Undercover Saints and Ally Pally Prison Camp. Maggie is an ex journalist and BBC TV producer living in London. Website: www.maggiebutt.co.uk