Ruth Fainlight mesmerises herself, and the reader, as she contemplates the play of leaf shadows on paving. The reflection comes from the rich and weighty volume of her New and Collected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, £20 paperback).
FLOWING STREAM
Shadows of leaves
on the pavement I’m laying
with stones from the garrigue
are drifting across it
like clear water in a shallow stream.
~
Shadows of chestnut
acacia and elder leaves
ripple like water in sunlight
over smooth pale stones
which might be a stream bed.
~
The movement of shadows
silhouettes of leaves
speckle the cobbles, the wave-worn
limestone slabs of unclassifiable
lichen-spotted shapes.
~
and alter the pattern
by glittering refraction
as the water eddies
around fallen twigs and pebbles
on the sandy stream bed, on the paving
~
Until I don’t know
whether shadows or reflections
wind or stones or leaves
are the transparent water
in a flowing stream.
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