Chris Torrance was born in Surrey but moved to the Neath Valley
in 1970. He then began the serial long poem "The Magic Door," which
has now been in progress for more than 25 years. Co-editor of the 1960s
magazine Origins Diversions, he co-led the poetry & music group Poetheat
from the mid-80s onwards. He has been a tutor in creative writing at Cardiff
University since 1976.






Maytime
(for Barry MacSweeney)



with sexy delight
songthrush celebrates
riff after riff
glories of May




ragged as
walkway busker’s piping
pigeon’s
tail feathers




ancient trees     modern noise
agitation acute
planet endures

just above stalling
red kite
creeps over turf
my scavenger ego


shadowed by buzzards


skeletons in cupboards




infinite intangibles
act of writing shakes
wobbly chair




build sound dome all day
insect instruments     leaf whisper
a single combustion
destroys in an instant




smooth lenticulars
brow of an angel
over charred grass


tilt of a double axe
over a screaming stone
the domination of man




each wind rocks
wobbly chair
each tectonic wave
shakes the skull
whipped by spider silk




death of a brother
windblown pipit
takes your soul
out over rushes




a shiver up my spine
your crab cancer     implacable smile




9-18 May 2000