TNT Mate

Big Frank has been reading from Jay Leeming's book of poetry entitled "Dynamite on a China Plate. The following helps a bit in approaching this book.

Dynamite (TNT): a useful explosive material with convenient handling properties. People exposed to TNT over a prolonged period tend to experience anemia and abnormal liver functions along with toxic delusions.

China Plate: London Cockney rhyming slang, china plate = mate.


Rowboat

An oar is a paddle with a home. This arrangement seems awkward at first, as if it were wrong; the wood knocks in the oarlock, and would much rather be a church steeple, or the propeller of an old airplane in France. Yet as it bites deep into the wave it settles down, deciding that the axe and the carpenter were right. And you, too, are supposed to be sitting this way, back turned to what you want, watching your history unravel across the waves as your legs brush against the gunnels. Your feet are restless, wanting to be more involved. But your back is what gets you there, closer to what finally surprises you from behind: waves lapping at the shore, the soft nuzzle of sand.

APPLE

Sometimes when eating an apple
I bite too far
and open up the little room
the lovers have prepared,
and the seeds fall
onto the kitchen floor
and I see
that they are tear-shaped.