Lumen is Tiffany Atkinson’s fourth collection of poetry and is published by Bloodaxe Books in February 2021
Hymn
Red dog shitting
plants his four stars in the grass
and up goes the tent of himself
his tail pegged out
his eyelids fine and private. And I think
……………..so that’s how we do all things with the body.
Here he is.
He lifts a gold wrist like a debutante.
I look at him and know the eye emits a shaft of sticky particles
……………..and these have formal consequences.
When he hunts in any case I’m lost to him.
He spins on the horizon
……………..heads/ tails.
Smooth your hand along the dog. He likes that.
If in dreams sometimes I do my red dog harm I wake in thick tears.
If my dog lies like spilt honey
I stretch across the carpet breath-to-breath and watch his yellow eye
……………..a trapdoor in and out of which some small hot thing is always bolting
flick and grow still.
May I never get over the slapstick of the red dog swimming.
When high wind is the red dog’s cinema he shakes.
Only when my dog is quite exhausted
will he push his India-rubber
heart into my palm.
……………..It jumps.
When friends say look
you know he’s not a substitute
do they think I’m an idiot. He chooses daily
……………..and I rise or don’t rise and he takes me
Dog speaks
What my russet hunt-dog says
…. curled in the cream of my bed
……….like a worm in a nut is that it’s me
………….. wanting discipline What’s this
he groans with one eye rolling up
…. and tail flicking lizardly Where are your boots
……….and your teaching voice why make me
………….. lie for you This isn’t business there
isn’t a blizzard and nothing is wrong
…. with your forked walking-parts I don’t know
……….why you droop so why you
………….. smell so like a bin-fire after rain What’s
this slow extinction Light yourself Be lit
…. rise up and mistress Claim your right
………..to push yourself into the world
………….. so I can sprint my golden loops
or put a collar on and walk yourself
…..the slow length of whatever reeks of grief
……….then shit right on it
………….. and be done Don’t take me
for a heart some sempiternal human heart
….. all struck and gormless I am short-lived
………..horny huge of whim your counter-
………….. weight Will pull hard every
time and not be told Though you must try
…..like any little talking-god as I
……….must dumbly quite like any
………….. better self ignore you
