ARE David Constantine's owls real night visitants or imagined ones?
Whichever, they are important companions of his restless sleeping hours. The poem is in Elder, the latest collection from this prolific poet, translator, and short story writer (Bloodaxe, £9.95).
OWLS
Wake hearing owls, wake certain
My poor sleep long I have been listening
To the owls calling across me. O my ghostly
Insistent conductors through the shoals of sleep
To the borders here, thus far
No further, go back now
Into the darkness, do not be seen
While I crawl into the workaday fret, while I
Shift badly in the glare of noise
Let me believe you keep yourselves safe in the dark
At the back of my head, my pilots
Sounding across me, calling and answering.
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