Richard Price

Richard Price's collections include Lucky Day, Moon for Sale, and Late Gifts (all published by Carcanet, UK). He is one of the Informationist grouping of poets, an avant-garde which emerged from Scotland in the 1990s. His work has affinities with Lee Harwood, Edwin Morgan, and Denise Riley.

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Venice numbers

1

the approach

                        by water

wide, low

(Delft, Vermeer)

                                  low, wide

to one side, away from the conservation area

huge high pipes, industrial

directly in front

(wide, low)

                                a huge high bell-tower

1a

doors at sea-level closed up

and the lintels still in place

as if at the corner of your eye

a green that’s moss or marine weed

so the door at that awkward corner

is a decision not to receive a guest there

you are welcome above the flood limit

I’ll tell you where our door is these days

11

another stone mother another stone son,

and the presented flowers this time

are engineered hydrocarbons –

yes a green yes a blue

the ingenuity of plastic –

and the bee this time

there is no bee

the insects can tell

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