The assembled dead

Up to Aberdeen today, for an evening celebration-event ... back down in Edinburgh tomorrow afternoon, and will definitely have to do a long'ish run!

But for now, here's a Dana Gioia poem, taken from his pictured 1991 collection:


CLEARED AWAY

Around the corner there may be a man
who shop by shop, block by ruined block,
still sees the neighbourhood which once was here,

who, standing in the empty lot, can hear
the vacancies of brick and broken glass
suddenly come to life again, who feels

the steps materialize beneath his feet
as he ascends the shattered tenement,
which rises with him in the open air ---

story by story, out of memory,
filled with the smells of dinners on the stove
and the soft laughter of the assembled dead.