Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 153, Volume 30 Number 1, September - October 2003.

'A Compound March' John Peck



1

Place of the lion in evening;
situation of good
in the shiver of its morning;
fact's healing salt; amber's
ardour; the march of unities;
the countermarches of tributaries;
forgiveness's silt; awe's ease;
harbour of the shrike's plunge; jetty
of welcome; port's rocking pause;
peace, a fire inwrapping;
resurgence, a fire gone out; a swung latch;
the city, a compound march; old paint's rolled seams;
the republic, a quilt of equilibrations;
home a tongue unthought of; the oil of action;
iron door on railed wheels rolling
to one side; a burden carried;
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image