Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay, acclaimed poet and playwright, was born to an Ethiopian mother and brought up by a white foster family and in children鈥檚 homes. His poems have been described as 鈥渟ongs of the street鈥.
Lemn writes a regular column for Poetry Review, and is the writer in residence for 2007 at The Royal Festival hall.
Short poem
The week passes, a working wind
And a gust of guests arrive
I鈥檝e got a feeling it must be spring
In the fresh air of Saturday, Live
Architecture
Each cloud wants to be a storm
My tap water wants to be a river
Each match wants to be an explosive
Each reflection wants to be real
Each joker wants to be a comedian
Each breeze wants to be a hurricane
Each drizzled rain wants to be torrential
Each laugh from the throat wants to burst from the belly
Each yawn want sto hug the sky
Each kiss wants to penetrate
Each handshake wants to be a warm embrace
Don鈥檛 you see how close we are to crashes and confusion,
Tempests and terror, Mayhem and madness, and All things out of control
Each melting Icecube wants to be a glazier
Each wave wants to be the smooth stroke of a forehead
Each cry wants to be a scream
Each carefully pressed suit wants to be creased
Each midnight frost wants to be a snow drift
Each mother wants to be a friend
Each night time wants to strangle the day
Each wave wants to be tidal
Each subtext wants to be a title
Each winter wants to be the big freeze
Each summer wants to be a drought
Each polite disagreement want sto be a vicious denial
Each diplomatic smile wants to be a one fingered tribute to tact
Don鈥檛 you see how close we are to crashes and confusion,
Tempests and terror, Mayhem and madness, and All things out of control
Keep telling yourself.
You鈥檝e got it covered.
i dont listen to radio 4 ~ my husband had it on when i went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea
Complain about this posta man was talking ~ reciting poetry lem cc was how i wrote it down
couldnt find him when i searched google but the bbc had him
thank you for your poetry and i like your website
What has happened to the dog poem ? I wanted to sent it to someone with a "sausage" dog who is at present indergoing chemo therapy and needs a good laugh. Please please post in onto the web site.
Thank you
PS she is also a catholic so needs a bit more talk about hell !!!!
Complain about this post