POETRY FOCUS: A POEM BY JONATHAN TAYLOR

Jonathan Taylor

Majorca, 2006

Over the top of Austen I see them:

transporting wheelchair to water’s edge,

lifting him by armpits into the surge,

supporting his neck, his legs, his back

sometimes chatting, sometimes distracted –

splashing, batting balls, ducking, shouting –

grandparents, parents, friends, siblings

ranged like rings round a distant planet

which to outsiders might seem icy, silent.

I hear the father say to a friend in passing:

“Yes, it was a shame,” while still beaming.

I recline my sundbed, readjust sunglasses,

sip my cocktail, flick through pages,

on these between-days feeling orbitless.

Eyewear is very pleased to have a poem by poet and author Taylor up today, this rainy London autumnal day - helps to bring the sun back.

Jonathan Taylor is author of the novel Entertaining Strangers (Salt, 2012), and the memoir Take Me Home (Granta Books, 2007). His poetry collection, Musicolepsy, was published in early 2013 by Shoestring Press, his short-story collection, Kontakte and Other Stories, by Roman Books in mid-2013. He is editor of the anthology Overheard: Stories to Read Aloud (Salt, 2012). He is also Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at De Montfort University, and co-director of arts organisation and small publisher Crystal Clear Creators. His website is www.jonathanptaylor.co.uk.

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