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DISCLAIMER

TRISTAN MOSS

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DISCLAIMER

�

TRISTAN MOSS

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Belfast

LAPWING

First Published by Lapwing Publications

c/o 1, Ballysillan Drive

Belfast BT14 8HQ

lapwing.poetry@ntlworld.com

http://www.freewebs.com/lapwingpoetry/

Copyright © Tristan Moss 2012

‘Windmills’ Cover Image Copyright © Felix Mercer Moss 2012

All rights reserved

The author has asserted her/his right under Section 77

of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988

to be identified as the author of this work.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from

the British Library.

Since before 1632

The Greig sept of the MacGregor Clan

Has been printing and binding books

Lapwing Publications are printed at Kestrel Print

028 90 319211

E:kestrelprint@btconnect.com

Hand-bound in Belfast at the Winepress

Set in Aldine 721 BT

ISBN 978-1-909252-05-9

ii

CONTENTS

30Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Light’s Smell . . . . . . . . .28The Pensioner . . . . . . . .27Retro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Nostalgia . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24The Worm . . . . . . . . . . .23Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Vicissitude . . . . . . . . . . .21Broken Statues . . . . . . . .20Orphan . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Two Versions . . . . . . . . .18Differences . . . . . . . . . . .17Two Old Friends . . . . .16Parting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Hitting the Wrong Key .14Thieves . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Ghost Ships . . . . . . . . . .12Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Uneven Couplets . . . . . .10Knowing Love . . . . . . . .9Magnification . . . . . . . . .8Driving in the Dark . . .7Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . .

iii

iv

DISCLAIMER

v

To my father and my wonderful daughter,who will never meet except in my thoughts.

vi

Disclaimer

the views expressedare those of a loverpartnercolleagueemployeefathersoncompetitorstudentteacherbrotherfriend…

and do notnecessarilyreflectmy own

Tristan Moss

7

Driving in the Dark

That night you were not the shooting star,the moonlit lake or the glowing windows above which chimneys smoked.No, you were the rabbit that ran out in front of my car causing me to brake; and there you stayed, frozen,staring at me for a second or two,as if to say, even when I throw myself in front of you, still you try to swerve and avoid me. Then you were gone.

Disclaimer

8

Magnification

You were once a part of something so broken that when we separatedyou seemed a fragment - rough and jagged. Now when I see you, you are smaller but as smooth as a pebble.

Tristan Moss

9

Knowing Love

I saw a stranger on the pavement. We tried to avoid each other’spath, but as we sidestepped, our feet seemed caught in a clumsy,leadless dance, which drew us closer with every step. Now, in thehouse, we step around one another with consummate ease.

Disclaimer

10

Uneven Couplets

the summer we let the grass growuntil too long to mow

was not the summer we looked for moreand small things began to gnaw.

was not the summer we ceased to careand had affair after affair.

was not the summer we chose to ignore things that would’ve split us for sure.

the summer we let the grass growuntil too long to mow

was the summer we were unawarewe’d never be that perfect pair.

Tristan Moss

11

Paths

slippery patch of iceshe walks over ithe walks around it

Disclaimer

12

Ghost Ships

She no longer slams doors. Instead, with a nonchalant touchshe sets them adriftcreakingtowards their close.

Tristan Moss

13

Thieves

When we were burgled, we hid and argued about whose cds, books and furniture were being stolen. We heard them going through every room -yet not ours. They knew we were there, as we knew they were there - a kind of awkward deal had been struck. Eventually, we dared to leave our room and saw that those two thieves had left us with nothing.

Disclaimer

14

Hitting the Wrong Key

What constitutes a typo?Should the wrong letters be close on the keyboardto those intended?Or when the word’s all mixed upmust it be a perfect anagram of what was meant?

What type of errorsturn I’ll always love youinto I’ll move out?

Tristan Moss

15

Parting

the dry patchwhere your car wasdisappears

Disclaimer

16

Two Old Friends

winter and summer seldom meetbut when they dothey argue terribly

when I am with oneI find myself being autumnand when with the otherI am spring

Tristan Moss

17

Differences

the teain my broad-rimmed cupsoon goes coldyours continues to steam

Disclaimer

18

Two Versions

he read the bookshe saw the moviethey discussed their differences

he argued the book was better as it didn’t over-simplifyand resisted reducing its characters’ problems to clichés

she argued the film was betteras its character’s problems were clearand not masked by ambiguities

and so they continued to argueabout a film he’d never seen and a book she’d never read

Tristan Moss

19

Orphan

after we adopted himI watched his restless sleepon his bedside table was a cactusoften I wanted to water itbut seldom did

Disclaimer

20

Broken Statues

to stand on the bare pedestals of an ancient temple I imagine …

my mother holding up a hand to her ear while staring at a hairline

my father’s muscular outstretched arms trying to convince without any fingers

my proud brother with no ears or nose

my alabaster wife with no arms

a friend with no head or genitals

and last of all, myself, with a full quiver but no bow.

Tristan Moss

21

Vicissitude

part of me’sone of those picturesque villagesthat’s stayed the samefor strangerswho have no interestin nearby placesthat had to change

Disclaimer

22

Sight

holding a butterflyin my handsI peek in from one sidewhile letting light in from the otherand the more I seethe freer it becomes

Tristan Moss

23

The Worm

Half its body moves leaving the other behind.If its direction is rightwhat can now be called its back catches upbut if not, what may have been its front wrinkles back to where it was.

Disclaimer

24

Lines

a queue of peopletheir shadowsfalling on one another

Tristan Moss

25

Nostalgia

between the blades of an old mowertangled grass grows

Disclaimer

26

Retro

the speed camera’s signis that of an old camera.this is clearly a lie.

does the image of an old camera carry more weight in the mind’s eye?or when travelling at speedis it easier to distinguish?or are old things more indicativeof what they are than new?

whatever the reasoni too encourage people to notice meand take note of those who speed on by.

Tristan Moss

27

The Pensioner

he told me he preferred his housewith its drafts and fires that burn all dayrooms that in the darkstill contain the crisp night airand in the lazy summer monthswindows and doors wide openletting in insects that bite and stingand with a catthat keeps the mice at baybut never quite gets rid of them

Disclaimer

28

Light’s Smell

just before the small dimly lit church closesa priest goes roundlocking the shutters and putting out the candlesas he does so the candles’ smell intensifiesuntil it’s all that remains

Tristan Moss

29

Writing

Sorry, this poem isn’t in to take your call at present. But if you’d like to leave a few wordsor even some sort of a message, it might get back to you later.

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30

Tristan Moss

31

k

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32

TRISTAN MOSS

Tristan Moss lives with his partner and two young children

in Sheffield, where he works as an English language teacher.

He can be contacted at tristanmoss@hotmail.co.uk

Illustration on front cover by Felix Mercer Moss.

The Lapwing is a bird, in Irish lore

- so it has been written -

indicative of hope.

Printed by Kestrel Print

Hand-bound at the Winepress, Ireland

ISBN 978-1-909252-05-9

£10.00

L A P W I N GL A P W I N GL A P W I N GL A P W I N GP U B L I C A T I O N S