Peter Lilly: Poems

The following poem is a response to the experience of listening to this episode of the New Yorker Poetry Podcast, while Silje was 8 months pregnant. The episode features Tracy K. Smith reading a beautiful and raw poem by Kevin Young called 'Crowning', then a wonderfully enveloping poem of hers called 'Alternative Take: Levon Helm'. I love both of these poets, and both of these poems have become particularly special to me.  Levon Helm, 1976. Smith's poem is inspired by the voice and rhythms of Levon Helm, someone who has been a big inspiration to me since, as a young teenager  in my best mates conservatory,  I first watched The Last Waltz. However, it was Kevin Young's poem of a loving father and husband's experience of childbirth, that brought me to tears the morning of the 22nd of November 2018, as I walked to work.   It was one month before Gabriel's due date. Throughout the pregnancy we had already experienced so many trials, growing ...

Heavy weights on numb limbs; This sleep is to my head. Crying out to distant blisters Which wish they knew the meaning. Try to spell it out, It’s simple for some. Now lie down and rest in paradise, On a bed of broken glass. Ash trays full of smoking ban Still sit on every table. Only if they knew the time of day They would all be gone. You hated every moment distributing life to the lonely, Easing out of the womb With dishonest motivation. And this is the world you’re born into, Where only night feels like home. Stain the blue sky black So you no longer have to squint. Only in complete darkness Are there no shadows. Written, early June 2010.