Hope, Maida Vale
Purcell in the room,
December exterior to glass,
beyond the white radiator's coils
I watch the athletes floodlit
and also enjoy aspects of the park
more wintry and more dark.
Fell into summer gloom
lasted longer, wouldn't pass;
it came to be my work, but toils
of a sad kind; a bad toolkit
knocking at my soul. No spark.
Now vague singing, a bare lark.
Even as you are wrapped for a tomb
hope to see light running out of dark.
Todd Swift was born in Montreal in 1966 and has lived in Europe since 1997, first in Budapest, then Paris, and now London. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the UEA. He is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently Seaway: New and Selected Poems (Salmon, 2008) and Mainstream Love Hotel (tall-lighthouse, 2009). He has edited or co-edited seven major international poetry anthologies, including Poetry Nation (Vehicule Press, 1998) and 100 Poets Against The War (Nthposition/Salt, 2003). His poems have appeared in many major journals, such as The Guardian, Poetry London, and Jacket as well as in The Best Canadian Poetry anthology. He has been Oxfam GB's Poet In Residence since 2004. In that capacity he has edited three poetry CDs and the 2009 DVD, 35 Young British Poets for Oxfam. He is a Core Poetry Tutor for The Poetry School and Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Kingston University. He blogs as Eyewear.