Poem
Dannie Abse
Talking to Myself
Talking to Myself
Talking to Myself
In the mildew of ageall pavements slope uphill
slow slow
towards an exit.
It’s late and light allows
the darkest shadow to be born of it.
Courage, the ventriloquist bird cries
(a little god he is, censor of language)
remember plain Hardy and dandy Yeats
in their inspired wise pre-dotage.
I, old man, in my new timidity,
think how, profligate, I wasted time
– those yawning postponements on rainy days,
those paperhat hours of benign frivolity.
Now Time wastes me and there’s hardly time
to fuss for more vascular speech.
The aspen tree trembles as I do
and there are feathers in the wind.
Quick quick
speak old parrot,
do I not feed you with my life?
© 2013, Dannie Abse
From: Speak, Old Parrot
Publisher: Hutchinson, London
From: Speak, Old Parrot
Publisher: Hutchinson, London
Dannie Abse
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1923 - 2014)
Dannie Abse was an esteemed poet, author, playwright and former doctor. He was a hugely popular figure in British poetry, a former President of the Poetry Society (1978-1992) and a powerful reader who displayed great humour and lightness of touch. He remained a vigorous poet up until his death in 2014, with new poems published in recent issues of The Poetry Review.
Poems
Poems of Dannie Abse
Close
Talking to Myself
In the mildew of ageall pavements slope uphill
slow slow
towards an exit.
It’s late and light allows
the darkest shadow to be born of it.
Courage, the ventriloquist bird cries
(a little god he is, censor of language)
remember plain Hardy and dandy Yeats
in their inspired wise pre-dotage.
I, old man, in my new timidity,
think how, profligate, I wasted time
– those yawning postponements on rainy days,
those paperhat hours of benign frivolity.
Now Time wastes me and there’s hardly time
to fuss for more vascular speech.
The aspen tree trembles as I do
and there are feathers in the wind.
Quick quick
speak old parrot,
do I not feed you with my life?
From: Speak, Old Parrot
Talking to Myself
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère