Frances Presley
Creswell Crags
for my cousins
what is it about those shapes
do we follow them with the edge of a finger
her index pointing to the map
this was the moment when he fell in love
the certainty of her hand
he follows the outline with his spot light and we
are not always convinced
bas-relief
made by rubbing
with a hard stone
rock simple
stone scratches
face deep
re peat
sometimes you have to see it outside in
sometimes you have to see it inside out
they have broken a tree
and stolen the communal wheelbarrow
3 sprmpsd rnng hrs
ueioe ui oe
reindeer impaled with a spear
bread And dripping
this is a scruffy mane
we know that these horses always had scruffy manes
the way the honey coloured stone
is much lighter when scratched
we cannot see it but they can see it
two birds
or two breasts
would have to be very lopsided
well they sometimes are
we have many conventions to mark
the inherent poly phony of
archaeological activity
we know that there must have been fertility rites
because there are triangles
what are those metal triangles
they pin back the rock
BOLD LOVE
between the england flags
traces of red ochre pigment
in the engraved lines
an uprooted plant against the shed door
what is this
vandalism
the gift of a gooseberry bush
here the gravestones are flat for the already cremated
she supports herself
hand to the small of her back
unbending
above the two black slabs
they do not stand far out from the ground on which they were formed
deep in
the cave
total darkness
a few drawings
said to be of birds
but more recently it is proposed
that they represent the female figure
this is also possible
but you would have to turn them upside down
the shape of the beak
the shape of a thigh
strike the water
with breaking
braking
wings
FP 10/9/06
