Poem: Catching the light

Here, four moments from the 1980s and the 2010s provide the vignettes which I hope convey how an auto-didact skips and slithers, in a hungry sort of way, amongst the wit and wisdom of his betters.

Catching the light

Heralded by raucus gulls,
and over a sparkling holiday sea,
a boat trolls a shivering hook-array
hidden in the waves –
a dethroned chandelier –
snagging the appetites of mackerel,
to make a silvery snack.
Dazed, these are the ways
I have glimmers
of the wisdom of others

Trailed by raucus gulls,
and under a blustery sackcloth sky,
a tractor drags an elbowing plough
heaved through the earth –
a dethroned candelabra –
to turn and polish the sod,
making sudden glints.
Startled, these are the ways
I catch glimpses
of the wit of others

Crowned by raucous gulls,
and on a grudging dockside tide,
idled, a dinosaur aquatic bird,
a floating crane hovers a pulleyed claw –
a dethroned rise-and-fall pendant –
prepared to hoist ship’s engines,
from dungeon keel to sunlight.
Eyes raised, these are the ways
I am vouchsafed
the  wit of others

Ignored by raucous gulls,
under a scowling rain-washed sky,
a youthful chestnut hosted
its own collapse by chainsaw –
a dethroned light sabre –
and its burnished seed fell
around its blunted stump.
Crouched, these are the ways
I catch sight
of the memories of others