Offering
by Paul Perry

I wanted the wrong things,
rushed about the world for them;
none of it brought me anything but pain.
I did not pray nor was I grateful for what was simple.

Today, my daughter sings to the spideog;
the garden is over-grown, wasps swarm the azalea
and a flower called self-heal blossoms in the corner
where we sat last night without talking.

Voices carry on the breeze,
the sound of a lawn-mower, and a church-bell ringing.
I stop, ask for help; I am not beyond that –
or writing about grief and repair.

So much is waiting to be done:
the sun reveals itself from the cloud-cover.
My body accepts the heat, and gratefully,
not even the siren in the distance can trouble me now,

but I wanted you to know this:
that if there were some salve for your pain,
some solace I could lend,
I would offer it to you willingly, and with love.

Swoon (aka Marc Neys)
Swoon is a composer / video-artist from Belgium.
As one of the leading and most prolific figures in modern videopoetry he made videopoems for and with writers from all over the globe. He inspired new creators through his workshops and showcases on videopoetry.

“He creates works with a focus on the purely poetic quality of the moving image in relation to the spoken or written poem. A sophisticated interplay of constructed soundscapes and images with personal reflections. Through a visual language and references to his everyday life, he creates a framework in which the poems come to a different development.”

His works have been selected and featured at festivals all over the world.
Swoon’s albums on bandcamp
His video’s on Vimeo

Paul Perry
Paul’s New and Selected Poems: Gunpowder Valentine, is published by Dedalus. His third co-authored Karen Perry crime novel, Girl Unknown, has just been published by Penguin.

One thought on “Offering

  1. […] Click through for the text of the poem. This is the second third Swoon film based on a Paul Perry poem, following Drift (2012) and River of Light (2103). […]

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