Poem
John Burnside
THE INNER EAR
THE INNER EAR
THE INNER EAR
It never switches off; even asleepWe listen in to gravity itself.
Crossing a field is one long exercise
in equilibrium - a player’s grace -
though what we mean by that
has more to do
with music
than the physics we imagine.
A history of forest and the murk
of oceans, nice
adjustments
in the memory of bone
lead us to this: the gaze;
the upright form.
Lemur and tree-shrew linger in the spine
becoming steps; a track worn in the grass;
A moment’s pause
before the rain moves in.
© 2001, John Burnside
From: Times Literary Supplement
From: Times Literary Supplement
John Burnside
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1955)
John Burnside was born in Dunfermline, Fife, between the firths of Forth and Tay, in 1955. He lived in the English home counties and Gloucestershire before returning to Fife a few years ago. He studied English and European languages in Cambridge, and after working as a computer engineer became a fulltime writer; he also teaches at St Andrew’s University. He has won and been short-listed for sev...
Poems
Poems of John Burnside
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THE INNER EAR
It never switches off; even asleepWe listen in to gravity itself.
Crossing a field is one long exercise
in equilibrium - a player’s grace -
though what we mean by that
has more to do
with music
than the physics we imagine.
A history of forest and the murk
of oceans, nice
adjustments
in the memory of bone
lead us to this: the gaze;
the upright form.
Lemur and tree-shrew linger in the spine
becoming steps; a track worn in the grass;
A moment’s pause
before the rain moves in.
From: Times Literary Supplement
THE INNER EAR
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