choosing
we didn’t realise
we chose the day
of the accident
what it woke up like
what you could see
from the window
what you read
in the newspaper
how the ticket collector
was towards you
before you spoke
Napoleon didn’t see the trench
when he rode out that morning
because he needed to be beaten
and when I was eight
and got run over
the lady visited me
gave me books, toys
remembered to call
for several months
Credit note: Choosing is from Owen Bullock’s new collection sometimes the sky isn’t big enough, published by Steele Roberts, and is reproduced with permission.
Tim says: This fine poem is a taster for my interview with Owen Bullock, which will run here on Thursday. Keep an eye out for it!
You can read all the Tuesday Poems on the Tuesday Poem blog.
..and a fine taster it is.. thank you.
The last stanza has such a punch. How quickly we moved on from September.I look forward to reading the interview.
Thanks, Joan and Rachel.
Interesting poem, and well-written, but I don't buy the theory behind it – I don't think we \”chose\” to have an earthquake, for instance.
Thanks for your comment, Catherine. I arranged the publication of this poem as a foretaste of my interview with Owen well before the earthquake, and in the light of the earthquake, I did wonder whether to go ahead with publishing it – so I hope you're not offended that I did; it didn't seem fair to Owen to postpone the interview any longer. For what it's worth, I know it wasn't written as a response to the earthquake.