The poem below is taken from Rebecca Goss’ fourth collection, Latch, recently published by Carcanet. There will be an online launch for the book on the evening of Wednesday 7th June, hosted by Caroline Bird.
The Retired Agronomist Drives a Tractor in the Summer Because He Likes the Oily Smell of the Machine
And how the soil turns to give up its creaturely yield. Gulls, massing. Their swoops to raid each cultivated ridge. And how unchanged it is for bird to follow plough. Purest wings dipping down to earth. And how his wife crosses stubble to bring pasta with green beans from the garden, three spaniels at her heels. And how this meal is eaten in the tractor’s cab after oilseed rape is sown, fruiting. And how we will pass this laboured square, remark the yellow dazzle.