The Film-maker and the Poet
after ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ (1946)
The film-maker begins at the rim of space
where he hurls constellations through
Shakespeare and war; from a place where
he condemns a man to unrequited death.
His screen fills out with the fretwork of
a wounded plane. It drops through a sky
of noise. Backlit by flames, his airman
falls, pinning his heart to the voice of a girl
in ground control, he’s never seen.
The poet arrives at the point where
the airman passes the girl his fear,
the moment when their voices change,
the instant he decides to bail
and she is in freefall.
Hilary Hares’ poems appear widely online and in print. Her collection, A Butterfly Lands on the Moon supports Winchester Muse and a new pamphlet, Red Queen, is available from Marble Poetry. www.hilaryhares.com Twitter: HilaryHares