This Week's Poem of the Day
This Week's Poem of the Day is taken from Alan Payne's new pamphlet, Exploring the Orinoco, which was a winner in the 2009 Book & Pamphlet Competition judged by Andrew Motion.
EXPLORING THE ORINOCO
With the Thames in their hearts,
and childhood fevers in common,
my father and his dead brother
explored the Orinoco.
The boat of my father’s faith
carried them upstream
to the port of Encaramada,
past the granite domes
of Punta Curiquima.
There, on a deserted island,
they camped for the night,
sitting on the scattered husks
of turtle shells,
reading in the moonlight,
and dining. A faint stink
of rotting crocodiles
corroded the air.
During the night, a jaguar
added discord to the howling
of their dogs,
and cataracts answered
the rumbles overhead.
Once, a small black monkey,
like a widow in mourning,
returned the sweet, sceptical smile
of my father’s brother
as he glanced up
from his beloved Darwin.
With a pencil, he underlined
a few words; then disappeared
into the forest
of my father’s mind,
where their mother’s grief
(one boy saved, one lost)
left him bereft.
— Alan Payne, 'Exploring the Orinoco' (Smith/Doorstop, 2010)
The Poetry Business receives financial assistance from Arts Council England.
