TONY
CHAPMAN
A Case.
Poem by Tony Chapman - finished.
A Case.
I rest my case
full of busy little animals
working treadmills and pulley systems and bicycle generators,
digging holes and filling them again, endlessly
cutting prairies with nail scissors,
painting Forth Bridges from beginning to end, ad infinitum
moving whole continents with tea-spoons
my case is full of these colourful little creatures
all quite happy.
I rest it.
Letter to Johann.
Poem by Tony Chapman - finished.
Letter to Johann.
You are a wonder to behold, Johann,
with your rainbow wings
and hair of diamonds.
Thank you one million times
for sending me
the yellow coat,
I left at your house.
It is like my second skin
... and it is now even more precious
because you have handled it
with your velvet, glove-like hands
and sent it winging its way
across the ocean depths
where mighty whales
and whisky drinking giant squids
sit in deep, undersea tea shops
drinking from bone-china teacups,
their pinkies raised politely,
whilst nibbling daintily
on scones, jam and double Devon cream. x.
Some of my poems and drawings:
Wales Poem 4 : Dylan Thomas's House.
by Tony Chapman -finished.
Dylan Thomas's House.
Dylan Thomas came here
lived here
his poetry, his words came from here.
In this house
the poet lived
in this kitchen his wife cooked
it was cold and damp
with the sea outside, "cat-lapping" the walls.
Up the path from this house
in a blue, wooden hut
with his books
and wood burning stove,
over-looking the "crow black" bay,
crumpled-up poetry-ideas littering the floor,
the poet wrote
it was cold and damp and VERY REAL.
This house is, now, centrally heated
his recorded voice
reads endlessly
in his own living room
as
we
tourists
pass through.
Here, the poet left for New York City
where he read his poetry
America shook (a little)
old
he felt cold and drank and smoked
skyscrapers watched
bronchitis pneumonia emphysema
impaired his breathing
starved of oxygen
he died
that’s all.
His voice echoes in this kitchen
where we tourists sit
centrally heated
eating cheese and soup.