Poem of the Month for February is The Green Man by Peter Branson
The Green Man'What means these ridiculous monstrosities in the court of cloisters?'
(St Bernard of Clairvaux, 1125).
'The symbols are ingrained in the psyche … since the dawn of human existence.'
(G. R. Varner).
'The Green Man': term coined by prominent folklorist, Lady Raglan, circa 1939.
Shaped from heart wood, hard stone, no figment, flesh
and blood transformed by low-born artisans,
these fiendishly-depraved eyesores, symbols
employed to decorate high corbel, roof
boss, font, bench end and startled misericorde,
kept fussy church officials ignorant
of what they represent, the living sap
within the gnarled dark root, those furtive eyes
above old chapel doors, the dancing men
and stag-horns peeping out from altar screens.
"The Reverend Griffith took me to his church
way back in '39, showed me this head,
a curiosity in ancient oak,
with leaves and branches sprouting from the mouth
and ears, entirely smothering the face."
Jack in the Green's abroad. No begging game
by lean black chimney sweeps in garish clothes,
led by a hobby horse; wild kettle drums,
whistles and frying pans, this one's for real.
You'll find him all around. D'you understand?
Those haunted eyes, gaunt cheeks and knotting brows:
there's something present here we've never known
yet recognise, an energy, a fugue,
the spirit present in each cell of plants
we eat, flowers we smell, the air we breathe.
These days George Green's despondent, gaunt, afraid
he lacks the strength and cunning to redeem,
restore our baneful toxic fingerprint;
no breathing space to beat retreat, for seed
to relocate, mature, habituate.
**************************
Peter lives in Rode Heath, a village in South Cheshire. A former teacher and lecturer, he now organises writing workshops. Until recently he was Writer-in-residence for “All Write” run by Stoke-on-Trent Libraries.
Over the last three years he has had work published, or accepted for publication, by many mainstream poetry journals, including Acumen, Ambit, Envoi, Magma, The London Magazine, Iota, 14, Fire, The Interpreter’s House, Poetry Nottingham, Pulsar, Red Ink and Other Poetry.
In the last two years he has had success in several competitions including a first prize in The Envoi International, a second place in The Writing Magazine Open and highly-commendeds in The Petra Kenney and The Speakeasy.
His first collection, “The Accidental Tourist”, was published locally by The Potteries Writers’ Workshop in May 2008.
