Complete Island



There is a castle over the sea

and we thought to go there you and me

with my scarf and your hair long

long like long shanks

and the hat with the dragon on


The hard fruit fell from the green quince tree

sweet wood on the road for you and me

In your flat – a plastic fork and a mince meat jar

lost as Christmas

and the moonlit edge of the sift sand bar


Shall we find our way with your blue bike

through the deep tunnel lanes by the sea?

I hear that the ships in the bay sound their horns

like white conches, and their lights twinkle

like stars, when the new year is born


But we lost our selves and that night too

wasted with some voyeurs of life

always in a hurry to get there

grasping at T.V. buttons and ignition keys

Going home? Well we were

moving in the darkness


I had forgotten you

when the driver stopped for the man in a black cap

walking alone past midnight, leaning into the hill

I could not clearly make out his face

for the cap and the shadows like mould on grain


Then he spoke of his work at the castle keep

and the beach where the salt came in, and told

how he had climbed to the high ground in this hour

and heard the chorus of ships below in the harbour

then he fell silent


He left us where the four lanes meet

and as I watched him continue swiftly on his way

I wondered if you knew

that the castle was our destination

and the fork was our runcible spoon

and I met my soul on the road tonight

with my memories in his knapsack