Blue

(On stained glass by Emily Willis,Edinburgh College of Art, 2005.)

I can see through you. It’s a long view:

look how the wind describes circles

with willow branches in the river,

punctured by rain pebbles, rings within rings.

I cannot tell what is inside or out.

And yet I am more concerned

with the interrupted view.

That’s where the light is:

the scratched, etched, painted surface,

the opaque blue at your heart.

 First published in 'Glass Works' (Cat's Pyjamas Publications, 2005) and also

 in the anthology  'Skein of Geese' (The Shed Press, 2008).