Matthew Pullar

October’s End

What, are we in limbo – The street filled with skeletons And faces deathly white? Pallid, strangely festive, Sun still high, dusk not yet set – All the in-betweenness of life And death combine in suburban street. Scout Hall silent for once in the week And houses ring with trick or treat Before the dayContinue reading “October’s End”

Timid Heart

Timid heart, Scared of dirt, Frightened soul, Fleeing all, Fledgling man, Adam-stained, Broken saint, Breathing faint, Ageing child, Lost and wild, Fractured mind, Wounded, blind, Death-marked Cain, Madman, sane, Searching eyes, Veiled skies, God-child dead, The curse unsaid, Ransomed One, The curse undone. Timid heart, Scared of dirt, Grace-scarred hand, Eternal plan.

W.H. Auden: Undoing the Folded Lie

As October draws to a close, it’s time for an essay to draw together our month spent with W.H. Auden. He is a controversial figure in Christian poetry, and so this essay comes with a minor warning that it may not be to everyone’s reading taste. But he is, I think, still a rewarding poetContinue reading “W.H. Auden: Undoing the Folded Lie”

This is the day –

leaves dance in spring-wind, the flowers sit and sway and calm the street. The still-point-petals line the garden; brick-walls gleam and fence-posts stand attentive to the silent day. The day hums in rest; Continue reading “This is the day –”

Audenesques

For my last Auden poem for the month, I have decided to fuse much of his poetry together in this homage to his work, great and humble alike. Along with the many famous, more memorable poems, Auden also wrote several poems which were kinds of collections of miniatures, poetic vignettes, sometimes sweet, sometimes stark andContinue reading “Audenesques”

Faith and Sight

I. “Am I okay?” the question asks itself. The mind retreats within to make reply And eyes forever dart towards the shelf (The cupboard open, fruit left out to dry). Unsettled souls put back the oil of joy And rifle through supplies to find the seed. The memory bank’s a plastic, moulding joy, Responsive toContinue reading “Faith and Sight”

Inhumane Traffic

It’s strange the impact that these moments have As, silently congealing in our cars, We feel somehow abject, dehumanised, And in that moment that is what we are: Mute and seething that we couldn’t save Time on roads much worse than realised. Still, this is not as bad as it could be: Our tyres areContinue reading “Inhumane Traffic”

Sonnet

Do not mistake the fold for where we live: It overlaps the outside and the in, Suturing together, and it binds What otherwise would float and duck and dive In nexus-waves of incompleteness. Yes: It’s true that we are nothing if our minds Are not caught up in Being’s dance. The less We live toContinue reading “Sonnet”

Indecisive Spring (After W.H. Auden’s “Under Sirius”)

One of Auden’s more challenging but also most remarkable poems is “Under Sirius”, written as a response to medieval Latin poet Fortunatus who, by Auden’s account, longed for humanity to experience some sort of tragedy to shake them to their senses. Auden’s inspiration came from the time known as the “dog days”, associated with theContinue reading “Indecisive Spring (After W.H. Auden’s “Under Sirius”)”

Tethered

Last night I saw the new film “Gravity” at the cinema. If you have not seen it yet, I will not spoil the movie for you. Let me just say that it was one of the most powerful and visceral films I have seen in a long time. Coming home last night and reading PsalmContinue reading “Tethered”