How very dull to be taken by a troll
At the start of my visit to Oslo.
If you believe in them
it will be easy to understand a key play of Ibsen.
Such as why they poisoned the water
In a letter delivered by the daughter.
Which gets me back
to the Troll and Dr Stockman:
Who are both rather brave and fearsome.
after Matsuo Bashō
In the nearly sun
A mist rises on the water
To the now awake
Two bees make honey
In a flower sweet but still
Alone as welcome
To something alert
A swan moving in a lake
Upon gold they sit
Observers of light
There is something electric
In this crest of white
As the bees work
A mesmerising sound grows
To constant measure
Light on the water
That sings its song to the dawn
In time to the beat
It was all a bit of a mistake, slightly careless:
due to a mix up with the Americans
the wrong things went to the wrong place.
‘Ambassador?’ ‘What?’
‘Excellency, that was and is,’
‘Is it … slightly hopeless, I mean,
to lose an Empire due to Suez?’
‘What?’ ‘I mean, Ambassador, shall I draw the curtains?’
‘Yes, draw the curtains at the embassy.’
No rhyme or reason
Or rationalisation
Some vague notion of globalisation:
A hairy bear will take my home and stay there.
Brexit? Is that you?
I thought, you, I mean, really? Really?
I don’t do detail, don’t care, just fix it.
While I stare at the wall
On my sunken patio.
BH Fraser on Poetic Enterprise at The Legatum Institute »
B.H. Fraser
February 12th, 2013.
Filed under Audio,Public Reading
As part of Legatum Institute’s Salon Series, B.H. Fraser and former Cabinet Minister Grey Gowrie discussed how the worlds of finance, business and politics have influenced them as poets, and shared a selection of their own published collections of verse in an intimate gathering at the Legatum Institute.
B.H. Fraser gives his view on the themes surrounding the Global Financial Crisis and reads his poem ‘Observation’.
Grey Gowrie discusses the parallels between poetry and music, in his poetic tribute to Billie Holliday, “Lady Day”:
Many of B.H. Fraser’s City Poems were reprinted and distributed as part of the event.
A copy is available here.
La Belle Inconnue and Observation at St Magnus The Martyr »
B.H. Fraser
May 17th, 2012.
Filed under Audio,Public Reading
La Belle Inconnue
Observation
Taken from a Poetry Reading on Thursday 17th May 2012 at St. Magnus the Martyr.
by B.H. FRASER, GREY GOWRIE, LAVINIA GREENLAW with music by JASON ORRINGE
Choirmaster: WILLIAM PETTER