This week’s featured poet is a twice-nominated Pushcart Prize candidate who has received multiple awards and commendations, after only recently rediscovering his love of poetry. Today, we are treated to “The Whole Universe Wants to Be Touched” (with first publish credits going to Sarasvati) and “Angelic Spaces and Infinite Geometries” (originally published in Dreamcatcher) by – the humble and gracious – Roger Hare.
The Whole Universe Wants To Be Touched
After Nils Frahm
with a razorblade, a rain-drop,
a thread of wool, a feather
lightly on its cheek
with a memory of geese
over water, of rock
cooled to a crust it can crunch
with a breeze released
from the bars
of a song
with its own dust pressed
into glorious molds
and
with just
a suggestion
of mortality.
a thread of wool, a feather
lightly on its cheek
with a memory of geese
over water, of rock
cooled to a crust it can crunch
with a breeze released
from the bars
of a song
with its own dust pressed
into glorious molds
and
with just
a suggestion
of mortality.
Angelic Spaces and Infinite Geometries
You would think Angels need large spaces
to fit into – all those wings and swords and words
from the Almighty – yet they move through
the slenderest opportunity to gain
a glimpse of how it would be
to feel like a person feels;
to know what laughter
does to ears, what tears
do to tastebuds.
That day when you thought
your door was closed,
one of them slipped through
the gap at its hinge, placed
its blade on the floor
and moved his shoulders up-and-down
in time with your sobbing.
to fit into – all those wings and swords and words
from the Almighty – yet they move through
the slenderest opportunity to gain
a glimpse of how it would be
to feel like a person feels;
to know what laughter
does to ears, what tears
do to tastebuds.
That day when you thought
your door was closed,
one of them slipped through
the gap at its hinge, placed
its blade on the floor
and moved his shoulders up-and-down
in time with your sobbing.
Roger Hare is a retired community charity worker who has recently rediscovered a love of poetry which began in his youth. He is a recipient of UK Arts Council funding for 2023, which is aiding him in the development of his writing practice, and he has received commendations from Manchester Cathedral Poetry Prize, Rare Swan Ekphrastic Competition, and Allingham Festival Poetry Prize. Roger was a Pushcart-nominated poet in 2021 and in 2022; and a Best of the Net nominee in 2022. His work has been published in Black Bough Poetry, Ice Floe Press, Civic Leicester, Dreich, Anthropocene, The BeZine, SpillWords, and The Storms.