Tom Raworth’s “As When: A Selection”

THE MOON UPOON THE WATERS
by Tom Raworth

for Gordon Brotherston

the green of days : the chimneys

alone : the green of days and the women

the whistle : the green of days : the feel of my nails

the whistle of me entering the poem through the chimneys

plural : i flow from the (each) fireplaces

the green of days : i barely reach the sill

the women’s flecked nails : the definite article

i remove i and a colon from two lines above

the green of days barely reach the sill

i remove es from ices keep another i put the c here

the green of days barely reaches the sill

the beachball : dreaming ‘the’ dream

the dreamball we dance on the beach

gentlemen i am not doing my best

cold fingers pass over my eye (salt)

i flow under the beachball as green waves

which if it were vaves would contain

the picture (v) and the name (aves)

of knots : the beachball : the green sea

through the fireplaces spurting through the chimneys

the waves : the whales : the beachball on a seal

still : the green of days : the exit

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From As When: A Selection by Tom Raworth published this month by Carcanet and available to order here.