Brian Patten Poems

He said:

'Let's stay here
Now this place has emptied
...

Who brought flowers to this grave?
I, said the wren.
I brought them as seeds and then
Watched them grow.
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One night a poem came up to a poet
From now on, it said, you must wear a mask.
What kind of mask? asked the poet.
A rose mask, said the poem.
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Sleeping beside you I dreamt
I woke beside you;
Waking beside you
I thought I was dreaming.
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Doubt shall not make an end of you
nor closing eyes lose your shape
when the retina's light fades;
what dawns inside me will light you.
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I do not know what brought me here
Away from where I’ve hardly ever been and now
Am never likely to go again.
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They say her words were like balloons
with strings I could not hold,
that her love was something in a shop
cheap and far too quickly sold;
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Mr Ifonly sat down and he sighed,
I could have done more if only I had tried
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Our teacher told us one day he would leave
And sail across a warm blue sea
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How long does a man live after all?
A thousand days or only one?
One week or a few centuries?
How long does a man spend living or dying
...