Radcliffe Camera

Don't stop
at the handshake
- I didn't -

or even at the embrace,
which promises shoulder
a sinking feeling

with no hope of a nape
to natter into for the rest
and strife of nights,

but keep climbing and keep
in mind that nothing
but progress

and prepositions,
caught in the flux
of aspect, can ever be kept

assiduously,
climbing up
stand on the shoulders of this giant

then gently
- mind your step -
haul yourself above his head

and bend a knee beside Big Tom
whose heel is cast in shadow,
a foot to lean on

Gothic studs and squires,
next to which warm without
chimney stacks triple to the clouds

under blue skies
what a day!
to get on top of

the roofs above your room
disembody another camera
no longer ground-bound

has paused like a dew
gem wedged
between stone lips

coupling mischief
with awe such as the light
sets on a further

time
than was understood
whatever the hour

strikes the doves to spiral
the square with its dome
interjecting

the bud of a modifying clause
more whorled
with promise

than any cast
of predications
academic endeavours

might stack
sky high
for the benefit of

smoke and
ashes and
fallow fame.