British poet & novelist (1955- )
time zig-zags like a running man avoiding bullets
MAGGIE BUTT
"Time Travellers"
In war time women turn to red
swivel-up scarlet and carmine
not in solidarity with spilt blood
but as a badge of beating hearts.
MAGGIE BUTT
"Lipstick"
When I was a girl my mother said
I chattered like a magpie
even in my sleep, as if I knew one day
the words would all be stopped,
wine corked up in a bottle.
MAGGIE BUTT
"I am the Sphinx"
Manhattan's lights spread out below --
this firework show of wealth and power
outburns the feeble stars.
MAGGIE BUTT
"Top of the Empire State"
The clock-shop keeper holds the keys,
repairs the rifts in time, its unpredictability.
A wind-up world where nearly-there is good enough.
MAGGIE BUTT
"Clock Shop"
Sometimes the day you long for turns as sour
as month-old Yaks' milk, while the one you dread
blows in with floral breath.
MAGGIE BUTT
"Blue Moon"
It's just a life, dear.
We all have lives.
Some spill them in the trenches
others in a cage.
MAGGIE BUTT
"It's Just"
A doorway is a hopeless hiding place.
MAGGIE BUTT
"I am the Sphinx"