A Life

by Jenny Fothergill

look west, to the direction
of a life. the minds slow tug,
the inland chicane
      of the wind revolving out to sea
and back again, the omnipotent haulage of
steel rope and starlight. the constellations
of a life.
a lone telegraph pole, thread of slate
and grey wool, clouds departed from their origins,
abandon and cold. unobserved timetables,
and religion. laughter in lightness, grief
in isolation.              look west: towards time
diffused, reams of silver harvested
from the sky. the islands, like sleeping men lie
perennial, on an ever changing light box.
look west, to the song

of grandparent, black
cormorant and child unborn,
to the direction of                      
a life.