Fine dining
I once had dinner with a prince. Footmen
carried in drinks on a silver tray,
but I gave away my roots when I said,
Cheers, mate.
And I once had dinner
on my own, cutting up a pepper I had picked
off the road.
Indifferent to both meals,
I would live in a ditch with a pencil
if required.
Blue point
The kebab shop
is burning. Fetid oil, black smoke,
blown down the alley. The neighbours worry, check to see
whose house is fire. It's Blue Point, says someone.
That's doner meat. Dead sheep
gather on the street light,
whorl and haunt. The gamboling lamb
enrobed in flame.
We lock the door and smell a ghost, the pungent flock.
_____________
Nicholas Hogg is the author of A Sacrifice, inspiration for the Ridley Scott film starring Eric Bana and Sadie Sink. Winner of the Gregory O'Donoghue and Liverpool poetry prizes, his work has featured in the Guardian, Poetry Ireland, and the London Magazine. Missing Person, his debut collection, is published by Broken Sleep Books.
Comments