In Every Stroke Laid Down
Paul atten Ash
Took a snow pill in the Rothko Chapel
as you fell
under
a train in Gdańsk.
Minutes tick in reverse,
paint wicks
up
the canvas,
shocked
passengers
alight
en masse.
Every shade of meaning
each inarticulated feeling
caught in a game of
reveal/redact.
Blackbirds fly backwards,
white shit
skys
upwards,
your limbs
twitch to life
on
the tracks.
Cut to sweet ellipsis—these words melting,
swallowed down,
frozen pieces
of winters past.
Opaque sun through rafters,
the light
silver
catches us,
in every stroke
laid down,
a shade
of black.
Paul atten Ash is the pen name of Worcester-born poet Paul Nash, who lives in Bristol, United Kingdom. As a lens-based artist (Saatchi Art) his work has been published by Deep Adaptation Forum, Oscillations (Blackford Hill), and Where The Meadows Reside Issue 1.1.
