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The Gravity Tree
for J.H.P.
It was Newton sitting in the orchard
who predicted the stock-market crash
this tree has my name on it as well as yours
he said, but now the whole forest is awake
to the rising and falling of sleeping oaks
when trees collapse across the riverbank
it’s the revolt against prosody not hunting
for the memory of everything on earth and nothing in heaven
if there’s a man at the door who says he is here
to service your dreams, call the plumber
call two plumbers, and head for the emergency exit
I’m at war with my own instincts
on a switchback of hopes and fears
and the beacon is drowning here in mid-ocean
and where is Jeremy Prynne when you need him
always the first to speak, from deep inside
enemy territory – let’s be clear and deaf to mere reason
it’s the doppler effect of another history binge
about everything on earth and nothing in heaven
so lower your voice among the wolfthickets
and tune the receiver to the memory of that room
its root-system still holding fast, its new shoots always emerging
Rod Mengham is currently embroiled in translating far too much Polish poetry. He remembers Jeremy Prynne as the genius lecturer who used to sit at the back of practically every student poetry reading in the 1970s. He was the effective sponsor of all the most interesting experimental poetry produced in Cambridge over a period of five decades, no less. And his pivotal influence on innovative English Language poetry worldwide continues.
Copyright © 2026 by Rod Mengham, all rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the fair-use provisions of Copyright law. Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on other terms, in any medium, requires the notification of the journal and consent of the author.
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