Kim Morrissey Kim's poem, as workshopped, first draft followed by second draft (discussed in a later workshop):
Photograph – British Library Reading Room
– November 23d 1997
There are too many writers to stand
so we sit in the chairs – yes that's me
leaning towards Helen
No Max, of course.
But that's me
three down from Penelope
Kathy Lette, triumphant, being told
to take her feet off the chairs
– no one mentions her bum
and that's me!
tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
bring the ordinary horrors: smuggled
sweets, dirty fmgers, leaky pens
illicit gum
but today, baby Alexander
Pitt-Kethley's amiable drool
shines as radiantly as
Kathy Lette's black heels
Peter Porter's spilled wine
And in a hundred years time
When the negative's turned,
I'll still be there: in front of Harold
leaning towards Helen
three to the left of Penelope,
two up from Tony Benn
Right beside Enoch Soames
(unidentified)
There are too many writers to stand
so we sit on the chairs
yes, that's me!
three down from Penelope
leaning towards Helen
just two to the right of Tony Benn
the old Reading Room only a memory
its great airy dome made redundant
by this post-modern halogen-light sky
No one's thinking of Marx, of course,
just Harold in mid-pause at the back
being historical
and that's me!
Watching Kathy, triumphant
press the shine of her desk
with her sleek Antipodal bum
to the left, the new readers rows
of pre-millenium computers
already obsolete
but that's me!
And in a hundred years time
when the negative's turned
I'll still be there:
In front of Harold
Leaning towards Helen
Three to the right of Penelope
Two up from of Tony Benn
Right beside Enoch Soames
- unidentified
[rewrite: Two to the right of Tony Benn]
Kim comments.