poetry pRO
Mandy Pannett
Ladders of Glass, Contemporary Literature Press
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MEMBERS’ COMPS & CALLS 4 Jan26: Shepton Mallet
MEMBERS’ EVENTS/VENUES Dec: Shortlands Poetry Circle Mon 1st (online) & Tue 9th (live);
& A Very Croydon Christmas Festival – Poems for Peace: Sun 7th
see/hear: listen to Marcus Smith’s poem, Mysteries Every Day, read by Rebecca Hare, Live Canon
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Jan26: Shepton Mallet
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Frogmore 2025
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poetry tREnD
The Topiary of Passchendaele
Clip the box precise,
make corners a right angle
and thus contain the Cherry tree
in a low wall of green.
Lower the cypressus
to see the horizon file of poplars
flickering in afternoon wind.
Make it horizontal, check
with a spirit level,
always control height –
all needs daily attention
before cheese, fine cheese
and beer, fine beer.
Order these gardens,
contain the beds and herbs,
they must be shielded, neat.
Allow no thistle or spurge,
ground must be raked clean, pure –
cleansing makes for calm.
Be exact in measurement,
correct in the lie of paving,
check privet, manicure the arborvitae.
It is imperative to be uniform.
It needs hourly attention
before cheese, fine cheese
and beer, fine beer.
Christopher North
third prize, Open Competition, Poetry on the Lake (Italy), 2018;
in pamphlet collection The Topiary of Passchendaele, 2018, Smith|Doorstop Books,
ISBN 978-1-9121961-1-1
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