The Second Five anthology was put together after a series of readings I organised in Sheffield entitled Poetry in the City. I invited an established poet to read alongside a local poet in a monthly series of events. The money for project came from the short-lived Arts for Everyone award. The line-up for the anthology was the same as the first Five, except that Andrew Hirst took the place of Tom Roder. 'Firewood' is a poem I published in the volume.
Firewood
While great-granddad feeds chickens in the yardthe world is lifting up its dirty skirt.
His hands are open but he's half on guard
through his broom-bristle tache and stiff white shirt.
He straddles centuries like a cowboy,
my parish man. I like his bend and guile,
how after eighty years he still looks coy.
His neckerchief twists in cavalier style.
The light that swings its blade across the fields,
and sucks the tiny pebbles of his eyes,
the light that draws him out and shields
him from corn stook, cart-track, coppice demise,
is closing in. I'd like to repair him,
before light washes those trousers to milk,
before it cools the firewood of his skin,
and spins his hair out to the finest silk.
For more details email: .