Gordon Meade- Three Poems

Snake

Snake is rattling.
And that, in itself, should be
taken as a warning.

Snake transmutes
everything. All that Snake touches
will turn into something,

but not necessarily gold.
Snake, as he leaves, is writing his own
message in the burning sand -

Be careful how you go.


Woodpecker

Woodpecker, when faced
with his usual task of hammering,
sometimes does not know

whether he is trying to pull
something free from the bark, or
trying to hide something

inside its folds of wood.
A bit like my own use of words.
Am I trying to uncover

the truth, or to discover
another way of lying that, sometimes,
sounds just as good?


Heron

Heron goes fishing
whenever he can. It is
the only thing he is

any good at. But,
at least, he knows he is
good at that. And,

that is all we can
really hope for; to try
and master a craft.


Biographical Note

Gordon Meade is a Scottish poet based on the East Coast of Fife. He divides his time between his own writing and running creative writing courses for vulnerable young people.
His seventh collection of poems, Les Animots: A Human Bestiary, a collaboration with the artist, Douglas Robertson, will be published in Autumn 2015 by Cultured Llama Publishing in England.