Thomas Howarth was an Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Toronto University and the author of a major study of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Modern Movement.
He also wrote poetry. This example comes from his collection, simply entitled Poems, with original Mackintosh illustrations.
COMING AND GOING
The metaphysics
Of absence
And presence
Are inexplicable
A strong chemistry!
The invisible
Tenuous threads
That link
Connect
And bind together
Those who are separated
Can survive
The stress of war
The strain of peace
The torture
Of time extended
To the breaking point.
Yet they can be snapped
Irreparably broken
By a word
Spoken unspoken
By an action
Thoughtless or in anger
By indifference
And silence
The silence of indifference.
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