1991 drafts - recently unearthed

These are two newly unearthed* working drafts of a poem from January 1991 - time of the Gulf War I think!
*(thanks to the archaeological endeavours of my friend Graham)


THE CANDLE (Version II)

A patterned globe
of wax emits
a subtle fragrance.

The flames shaft
laps the glowing air
waiting to break

this happy equilibrium.
Is this the flame
that purifies, whilst commentators whine

of surgical strikes.
Open the door, create
a minor turbulence -

the flame now licks
the candles side -
the meltdown of the globe

began precisely
with the strike
of that first match.

Today the bombs
rain down; a patterned globe
emits the stench

of burning flesh.


******** Malcolm Evison



THE CANDLE (VERSION I)

Waiting to break
this happy equilibrium
the flames shaft

laps the glowing air.
Today the bombs
fall on Baghdad –

I watch the candle burn.
A patterned globe
of wax emits

a subtle fragrance –
no flesh is burning
here in my room.

Is this the flame
that purifies –
surgically pure?

An opening of the door –
a minor turbulence,
the flame now licks

the candles side.
The meltdown of the globe
begins so casually.


************ Malcolm Evison