{"id":629,"date":"2010-04-12T11:15:38","date_gmt":"2010-04-12T11:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=629"},"modified":"2010-04-12T11:15:38","modified_gmt":"2010-04-12T11:15:38","slug":"james-sutherland-smith-is-woken-by-a-dormouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/james-sutherland-smith-is-woken-by-a-dormouse\/","title":{"rendered":"James Sutherland-Smith is woken by a dormouse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta name=\"Title\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Keywords\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\">\n<link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/localhost\/Users\/helenivory\/Library\/Caches\/TemporaryItems\/msoclip\/0clip_filelist.xml\">\n<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n  <o:AllowPNG\/>\n <\/o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:WordDocument>\n  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n  <w:TrackMoves>false<\/w:TrackMoves>\n  <w:TrackFormatting\/>\n  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n  <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>\n  <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>\n  <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n  <w:Compatibility>\n   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n   <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables\/>\n   <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx\/>\n  <\/w:Compatibility>\n <\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"276\">\n <\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<style>\n<!--\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{mso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmargin:0cm;\n\tmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ansi-language:EN-US;}\n@page Section1\n\t{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;\n\tmargin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt;\n\tmso-header-margin:36.0pt;\n\tmso-footer-margin:36.0pt;\n\tmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n\t{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n<style>\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin:0cm;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--StartFragment--><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><b style=\"\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Dormouse<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: center;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">It woke me up,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">first tipping a coffee cup<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">over in its saucer<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">while slipping through<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">the barred window in the kitchen,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">next flipping over<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">a wooden herb pot<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">with \u2018DILL\u2019 scored<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">in black lettering<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">on its way from windowsill<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">to the shelf above the hotplate<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">dislodging a white jar that fell<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">with a hiss and a crash<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">as rice poured out<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">and the jar itself bounced<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">but didn\u2019t shatter.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: center;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\"><o:p>&nbsp;<\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">I clicked on the light<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">whose flicker caught it<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">in the act perched<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">on the edge of the sink, crouched<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">over a side plate filching<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">a bread crust I\u2019d left.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Unflustered, it blinked at me,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">tail a grey five-inch feather duster,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">ears twitching back and forth,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">eyes all black inquiring pupil<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">as if saying<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u201cYou did leave it,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">so if I may,\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">before sidestepping away<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">down off the draining board<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">by means of the handle<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">of the door of the cupboard<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">under the sink, not in fright,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">but defter through caution <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">than before, crust in its mouth,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">to a spot out of sight<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">where it must have fed<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">after I\u2019d clicked off the light<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: left;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">and gone back to bed.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: center;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"><font size=\"2\"><span lang=\"EN-US\"><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><font style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">*James Sutherland-Smith<\/span><\/font><font face=\"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><font style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" size=\"2\">:<\/font> <font style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" size=\"2\">Poet, born 1948, lives in Slovakia. Used to earn his living as an English language learning projects consultant. Now annoys his wife and does a bit of this and that to contribute to the household expenses. Writes feuilletons for PN Review, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bowwowshop.org.uk\/\">Bow-wow Shop<\/a> and other poetry magazines. Would like Hugo Williams&#39;s spot on the TLS. His website <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jamessutherland-smith.co.uk\">www.jamessutherland-smith.co.uk<\/a><\/font><font style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" size=\"2\"> contains examples of his poetry and the very grumpy weblog of somebody who feels undervalued.<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono; text-align: center;\" class=\"MsoNormal\">\n<!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<!--EndFragment--><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dormouse &nbsp; It woke me up, first tipping a coffee cup over in its saucer while slipping through the barred window in the kitchen, next flipping over a wooden herb pot with \u2018DILL\u2019 scored in black lettering on its way from windowsill to the shelf above the hotplate dislodging a white jar that fell with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}