iv. Odd Fish Grow in Boxes


Adam's away
has another wife,
sends his latest child
through the post.

I hesitate befor I open it,
we'd talked of ferns blackened,
of preserving wildlife,
smoked like kippers.

We'd wanted an icon
for Teesside's radical politick,
the sleeping beauty of it all,
David Bellamite's, David Trilobite's
occasional appearance,
fossilized on celluloid,
up to his neck
in Proctor & Gamble.

Under the wrapper,
our coat of arms:
the matchbox of Teesside
how suitable a metaphor
are those bits of trees,
Wood stripped of limbs,
dipped in chemicals,
how febrile this land
how explosive.

Why the pause?
Do I expect a booby trap,
suspect it's Lilith's child
resist being role-played
Pandora?