A HOLDING ACTION
Poems by David Sutton

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The Lame Ant

I have known those who were kindly, not because
They had anything to gain, or thought they had,
Not even, it seemed, from a consciousness of virtue
Or principle of faith; one might have said
Such was their way, from an overflow of gladness
Or because the innocent heart keeps open house
Scorning defence, but anyway, so it was.

I have thought of fairy-stories: how they teach us,
Against all reason, that kindnesses return,
That when the king’s son seeks the giant’s daughter
What wins the quest is the irrelevant rescue
Of certain wayside ants, who later come
To do the task that he cannot, and gather
The seed the giant has scattered, each last grain.

And I have wondered what part I might play in this,
Knowing myself a grown man, middling hard,
Watchful of my defences, a dour accountant,
Weighing and balancing. And I have thought
That if nothing else I could be one of those
That gather and give back: the lame ant, maybe,
Who brings in the last seed before nightfall.

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A HOLDING ACTION
Price £7.95 per copy post free (£5.30 post free to Associate Members)
Cover illustration: Samuel Palmer, The Harvest Moon
Publication: 2000 (56 pages laminated paperback)