JANE GARDNER

 

The blue position

 
The sky comes to evening reliably, to the blue hour 
when one star alone flares on velvet, 
decor straight from Dante via Borges: 
      ‘dolce color d’oriental zaffiro…’ 
The West dreaming of the East; a process now debunked. 
 
It’s cloudy — or we, asleep, are dreaming of holidays, money; 
we’re cooking or watching television. 
 
On UKTV, there’s a comedy we’ve come to like. 
Jean (Judi Dench) is optimistic but Lionel, 
‘Lie’, as Alistair calls him, is regretful, always. 
It ends with that song from the era further back, 
their youth, sung without malt or smoke 
by someone. The words don’t mean much — 
‘fundamental things apply’ — indeed! 
Another voice would tear your heart out. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Gardner is a Wellington writer who completed the MA in Creative Writing at the IIML this year. ‘The blue position’ is the first poem she wrote in this course.

 

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