The black I can work,
and work, manumitting troche and trait and spillikin from

the sable yield. And in the dark time shy as farwoods fungi,

right here where the forest is beginning to reclaim the field.

The Hometown

I’d been a boy
but could not barani or shin up to the crest of the Maiden Rock.

And I could barely march, not even out into the cold sea where

a saint’s kneecap and fingerbones bobbed in a tide-trapped cave.

by Roddy Lumsden

This will be the final Weekly Poem of the year, as the Poetry Centre will be taking a Christmas break until 7 January. Very many thanks for reading the 2012 selection of poems. May you have a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas and excellent start to 2013!

‘The Jeater’ and ‘The Hometown’ are copyright © Roddy Lumsden, 2012. They are reprinted by permission of Penned in the Margins from The Bells of Hope (Penned in the Margins, 2012).

Notes from Penned in the Margins:

Roddy Lumsden has six previous collections including Mischief Night: New & Selected Poems (Bloodaxe, 2004) and Terrific Melancholy (Bloodaxe, 2011). He edited the anthology Identity Parade: New British & Irish Poets (Bloodaxe, 2010), and co-edited The Salt Book of Younger Poets. Originally from Fife, he now lives in London and has also worked as a puzzle, quiz and popular reference writer. The Bells of Hope is a series of 51 poems, published as a limited edition hardback book. All the poems are written in a short form developed by Lumsden, the kernel poem, in which truth (the ‘kernel’) and metaphor swirl in one dimeter line and three equal, much longer lines. You can read another sample poem from the book at the Penned in the Margins site here.

Penned in the Margins is an independent publisher and live literature producer specialising in poetry and based in East London. Founded in 2004, the company has produced numerous literature and performance events, toured several successful live literature shows, published over twenty-five books, and continues to run innovative poetry, arts and performance projects in the capital and beyond. Their recent anthology, Adventures in Form, was awarded a Special Commendation by the Poetry Book Society and was chosen as one of 50 Best Summer Reads by The Independent. You can visit the Penned in the Margins website here to sign up to the mailing list, and follow the publisher on Facebook and Twitter.

Copyright information: please note that the copyrights of all the poems displayed on the website and sent out on the mailing list are held by the respective authors, translators or estates, and no work should be reproduced without first gaining permission from the individual publishers.