Northern Metres for Tony Harrison in Florida

Your grandad worked the signals
At Haworth, mine at Horton:
Old railwaymen.

Self-satisfied a little,
Their and our preference for
The overtly neat and tidy.

We have to be so overt!
The signals clack down smartly
Yes or No; no fudging

Unless it were ... why yes,
As between fragrant cedar
And stinking, lasting cypress.

Done with a lovely touch, your
Emblem of that: the chairs
Standing opposed on your porch.

One cedarwood, one cypress,
...