(1, near Zennor)

long time it's wordless -
and no implication

a lack of gesture,
invisible other, keeping silent

which is not field silence
or that between friends
or conjugally shared -

a nothing before
         before which I bow
 
 
 

(2, foreshore, Marazion)

loneliness is, therefore, necessitous
if one is to avoid jabber
mouths like cupboard doors opening
and whatever is inside
disorderly      tumbling out
all sorts of things the same thing
like a child repeating its tiring questions monotonously
till it is answered

it is not to be borne

better to have been a beetle
or a twig

than to be aware
of what is to be heard

and not hear
for the distraction of avoidance
 
 
 
 

(3, Penzance)

twist upon the pain
of my own voice
me
stuck on my tongue
sticking me
marking me up
with a jagged edge
I see through
full of my blood
like a fighter
or lover
stiffening
going nowhere
standing the ground

animals rub against me

rain wears me

a dog pisses

and you hold on to my shoulder
to adjust your shoe

a smile that would comfort
were it not so brief
so contingent

and you must have your own voice
more personal than sexual privacy
more to be hushed
than death

out in deserts of inanity
wanders the figure 1

unable to combine or split

unable to divide or multiply

pointless

at the top and bottom of sequence

substantial vacancy