One Poem - Richard Barrett

THE HEAVY BEAR


I measured longing
It passed between two points
and was long / Beginning
'HERE' where the weather is
Always (Mainly
Extending out before me like
a road (A long one
Longing lasts two hours and
forty minutes / I timed it
Alone / To that point
'THERE' where 30 quid means
Alone won't last as long
Just a carriage length
- which, really, is nothing
--

Richard Barrett lives and works in Salford. His first full length collection, Sidings, is forthcoming from White Leaf Press. He is a co-organizer of the Manchester based performance series Counting Backwards.