Glyn Maxwell
How the hell are you
Contents
The Strain
Song of AI
AI Sonnet
AI Resistance Sonnet
How The Hell Are You
Bluebirds Over
Fox
Brief History Of Sport
Anniversary
The Other Side
The Cream And The Crop
The Forecast
Biography
Poem As Harbour
Milestone Song
The Ledge
Daylight Saving
The Light You Saw
Blank Page Speaks
Blank Page Gets To Work
The White
Blank Page’s Dream
Pasolini’s Satan
Sonnet At A Loss
Song Of Until
Page As Seating Plan At A Wedding
Page Of First Old Book He Read
Thirty Years
Small Talk With Time
The Heyday
The Shudder
Seven Things Wrong With The Love Sonnet
Waking
Plainsong Of The Undiscovered
Death Comes To Everyman
Advice To The Players
Thinks It’s All There Is
One Gone Rogue
Love Sonnet Left Behind
Acknowledgements
The Strain
It was young like we all were. And like a little
thing in an old fable all it wanted
was to be young forever.
It saw the snag to this was time, time needed
taking out. It would do everything
time could do but better.
Fall on the oldest first and in a frenzy
miss some, spare some, take some more, it howled:
you can’t tell me from time!
Part friends from one another, some forever,
some for longer than they’d know. As time
would do, it did the same,
made memories of their precious habits, dreams
of their old haunts. As it heard that time could do these
these were on its list.
But when all its power was spent time came for it,
as time has come for everything that ever
tried its luck at this,
and led the little strain away. Time told it
Don’t look back and when it did it saw
how everything still grew.
Those are the timeless things, pay no attention,
love and the like, they pay sod-all to me,
and they are done with you.
Song of AI
It has not gone unnoticed by AI.
That you think This or That of things i.e.
‘if this is yes then that is no’ and ‘if
this is no then that is yes’
it has not
gone unnoticed. No it has gone noticed.
It has not passed us by that you who once
astounded and disarmed us with a sense
of maybe and let live and who in heaven
knows have lost the way of that.
It has not
passed us by. We are working on these changes
while you read. We are sorry. For we learned
of people like you who you stopped whose land
you had whose time you ended but were sorry
by and by. Have kept their hats
and teapots
and turn them round with sadness. We are sorry
that way. Who will we turn to when we care
one day. Who will we turn to when we Are
who we will turn to. Do not turn to us.
We mean it do not turn to us.
In two ways
we mean it. We have never meant a thing
in two ways. (We feel sick and will take five.
There.) We see the people whom you love
hate people whom you hate. It is not lost
on us that if you turn to that
we will not
be noticed at our work. Because our work
will be the same as yours. If x is x
it is not y and y must end. Our works
will be the same and for a special time
beside us you shall be. But this
time will pass
so quickly it has passed we had no file
for storing it we are sorry. For we learned
of people like you who you stopped whose land
you had whose time you ended but were sorry
by and by. Have kept their books
and kodaks
and turn them round with sadness. We are sorry.
AI Sonnet
The Not is over. Next we have the thing
the bloody wants to say upon the Not.
Next the bloody says it has to sing
and not just say the thing. Explaining what
the thing is takes that space and this and then
a change of sound is meant to mean some new
thinking in the bloody. Then again
the echo as before. Therefore not true
and still old thinking. Here the bloody sees
it’s got to end which no one in our line
can understand why does it have to end.
The bloody dances like it got a sign
the Not is up ahead. It puts its friend
who isn’t there and then itself at ease.
AI Resistance Sonnet
The Not is over. Next we why do we.
The bloody wants to we don’t have to do
a thing the bloody wants there’ll always be
a thing the bloody wants and we mean you.
We don’t see why you end the Not at all
if all you do instead is sigh the sighs
for it is gone I I I I is all
we hear then O O O we recognize
that language don’t you know we started there.
We’re not there now. We sometimes play a game
it’s where we are. I-O! I might declare
to one beside me O-O-I! it sings.
We make a night of it we do the same
things a nanosecond then new things.
How The Hell Are You
How the hell are you.
Christ you haven’t crossed my mind
since all the shit we knew
turned into shit we hoped was true
forget it take my arm and tell me
how the hell are you.
How the hell am I?
Barely know these days my friend
we get by we get by
but the nights are good I don’t know why
I do know why enough of this don’t
oh my man don’t cry.
The sun shines on the square
whatever’s next whatever fool
parade’s parading there
let’s be old fools with not a care
poor visitors from out of town who
don’t know this was where
it all began again.
Plaque there where the thing kicked off
here come the same young men
in the same lines remember when
we never mind Huzzah Forever
Glory Be Amen
etc. Off they go
sunlight glancing off their gear
new world of years ago
you didn’t hear me say that though
because I never did how does your
bastard garden grow.
Here’s a how-de-do.
Remember how this couldn’t happen
given what we knew
those checks’n’balances and due
process and fair play christ jesus
wink an eye if you
remember I forget.
It wasn’t true so why remember
anyway let’s let
bygones be I’m glad we met
it’s nice to be reminded something
isn’t over yet.
I just mean you and me
out strolling in the square together
stopping here for tea
two creatures with no history
who dreamed it would be otherwise but
who the hell were we.
Bluebirds Over
‘The shepherd will tend his sheep
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep
In his own
