Michael Gustavius Payne

Gwefan arlunydd / Artist's website

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Thanks to Mike Jenkins for these poems. Diolch Mike.

THEĀ  CANARY-CHILD

By MIKE JENKINS
(for Gus Payne)


Boy in a cage, no way out
for the child collier in yellow shirt.
From the back, pit-dark threatens
though he's pleading
to a shaft of light.

His lips form a whistle,
till he begins to sing.
The lamp is welded
to green-scaled breeches;
a metallic part of him.

Lurking there, ready to leap in,
is the coin-cat, fed fat
on pennies, crowns and shillings;
he will pounce as soon
as the canary-child stops singing.





MG Payne - Allan O'R Cwd, 106x91cm, oil on canvas.
THE BOY BALANCING

By MIKE JENKINS

(for Gus Payne)


On a stool at the almost top,
almost egg-tip of a yellow world,
he stands balancing,
arms out streatched trying to be wings.

I've been there many times in dreams:
On clifflines and edges of buildings,
on proms above a gnashing sea
and known vertigo, skull sent spinning.

He strains his neck, face skyward
wanting to be an angel,
but he's grounded on the slanting stool,
his shadow wide as a wall.

He is tugged back to earth
by a tearing dog, teeth gripping jeans
and I have known that too in dreams,
fangs which rip through clothing.

His neck's an open wound,
his skin is shaved by the wind.
Will the earth begin to crack,
or sky rain feathers on him?




MG Payne - Pwyso / Balancing, 21x31cm, oil on board.