Against Naturism; If I Had Known

Roddy Lumsden's "Against Naturism" (from his collection The Book of Love) presents the case against nudism—more precisely, the case for clothes:

For me, I have to see the clothes come off:
the way a button’s thumbed through cotton cloth —
a winning move in some exotic game

with no set rules but countless permutations —
or how a summer dress falls to the floor
with momentary mass and with a plash
that stirs us briefly as we ply our passion;

For me, that summer dress's whispering fall quietly echoes Greg Brown's "If I Had Known" (from his CD "Down in There"; covered by Human Shields last Friday):

She was older than me I guess;
summer was invented for her to wear that dress.

I'd never pictured the taking off of that dress quite so explicitly until I read about it in Lumsden's poem. (Another lovely feature of the poem is the striking word "amidkiss"—as in undoing a clasp "amidkiss.")

George Szirtes in Basel

George Szirtes has posted a few lines about his visit to Basel, with a lovely photograph of the ferry across the Rhine. My thanks to him and to Roddy Lumsden for their excellent joint reading last night at Bergli Books!

Roddy Lumsden and George Szirtes in Basel, May 11

[Click on the image to see the full-size poster.]

ESP and Bergli Books present:
Roddy Lumsden and George Szirtes
A free poetry reading
6:30 p.m., Monday, May 11,Bergli Books, Rümelinsplatz 19, Basel
Sponsored by Bergli Books and the English Seminar at the University of Basel