3 English Poems From Pavarotti

First Foot,2021 Ne'er Day. Dead squibs lie on the damp grass Along the street folk nurse their throbbing heads We have a visitor in the garden, our first foot She has made herself at home beside the sparrows Within the house, the cat's curled up and snoring Our visitor a deer, opting to stay outside It is miraculous, this timely visitation from the wild She lies, waist-deep in grass in her russet colours Happy Ne'er Day, deer! Lovely delicate creature Did you step from a hunter's scene on a tapestry Exquisitely crafted by a lady's loving fingers? Duthie Park, Winter 2021 Young mothers clutch i-pads like precious comforters Chatting in Polish over the Scottish airwaves The car park's tight for space, like tinned sardines Shrivelled bushes rattle like dried walnuts Park benches hold a sheen of silver ice Toddlers lurch like drunks, constrained by jackets A little chubby child goes waddling like a duck A father films his daughter on a slide So should dementia strike, the memory's safe Cut to the Chase Anyway you slice it She couldn't cut the mustard Always chopping and changing with her beaux She had the cream of the crop to choose from She liked to cut dash Cut some to the quick Cut others dead Cut suitors down to size Till one boy clipped her wings Cut her down in her prime Wed her, left her, Cut her off without a penny And that, she said Was the cruellest cut of all