Selected Poems of Thomas Albert Fox
Volume three

Insistence

Rebecca Fountain [1994]

Across those sands of time you skip,
Deserted child alone
Through my hands you slip
Tiny fingers of water wrung
From my eyes so parched and dry as bone,
And my voice swollen on its tongue
Said nothing against the implacable stone,
But sucked for water with its broken lips and cried;
'til you arose and
Softly smoothed and shaped the stone
And gave me water for my voice to sip.

[Revised 2005]
Across those sands of time you skip
Deserted child alone
Through my hands you slip
Tiny fingers of water wrung
From my eyes so parched and dry as bone
And my voice
Swollen on its tongue on its tongue
Said nothing
Against implacable stone
But sucked for water
With its broken lips
And cried
Till you arose
And softly smoothed and shaped
The stone
And gave me water for
For my voice
For my voice to sip
And gave me water for
For my voice
For my voice to sip.

© Just Words Ltd

Fox chose Rebecca Fountain for display on the web to illustrate the range of image and emotion joined perversely by a process of de-fragmentation to the extent that Old World forms are recognisable.  Sung to "My Love is Like a Red Red Rose".

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