Timothy Kiely
Updated: Sep 12, 2019
Tim Kiely is a criminal barrister and poet living in London. His work has appeared in: 'South Bank Poetry'; 'Lunar Poetry'; 'The Morning Star'; 'Spontaneous Poetics'; and 'Ink, Sweat & Tears', as well as the Emma Press anthology 'Everything That Can Happen'. He is a member of the 'Poetry Versus' collective.
Sutures
i. Simple Interrupted
oh my young unspeakable hope
my flowers and their finger-tips’
exquisite piercing brisk pull
every sense’s. mundane meeting
found line. through all forgetting
vital finally to this
unknowing the crossing over point
from stitch to birdsong birdsong to stitch
ii. Figure-of-Eight
oh my young my flowers and
their finger-tips’. unspeakable hope
exquisite piercing every sense’s
mundane meeting brisk pull
found line vital finally
to this through all forgetting
unknowing the crossing from stitch to birdsong
birdsong to stitch over point
iii. Circular
oh my young their finger-tips’
unspeakable hope my flowers and
exquisite piercing mundane meeting
brisk pull every sense’s
found line to this
through all forgetting vital finally
unknowing the crossing birdsong to stitch
over the point from stitch to birdsong
iv. Herringbone
oh my young my flowers and
exquisite piercing unspeakable hope
their finger-tips’ every sense’s
found line brisk pull
mundane meeting vital finally
to this through all forgetting
birdsong to stitch over point
from stitch to birdsong unknowing the crossing
v. Vortex
oh my young my flowers and
exquisite piercing every sense’s
found line vital finally
unknowing the crossing from stitch to birdsong
birdsong to stitch over point
to this through all forgetting
mundane meeting brisk pull
their finger tips’ unspeakable hope
Towards Sex as a Theory of Everything
overheard on a journey home from work
as aftermath;
as nothing special;
as a lifetime;
as the light from inside;
as a wilful misreading of history;
as the most un-piano piano-playing;
as designer toys;
as discarded string;
as a long escalator taken at a run;
as void;
as beige wallpaper;
as explosion;
as metal;
as death machine;
as bodies drawn up to the ceiling;
as scarecrow arms;
as candy floss;
as a rhythm section by the citizens of Paris;
as Sunday’s ache;
as this very gospel number;
as the spirit shakes;
as salt
as clementines
as corn bread and black molasses
as laughter;
as a mouthful of oil;
as rattle;
as blur;
as the untold joy of being tired and overworked and whole;
as brown sunset;
as scratched windows;
as endless processing telegraph poles;
as litter;
as a tilt of the head;
as open mouth;
as closed eyes;
as slippery hair;
as bitten lips;
as headache;
as harmony
as a traffic jam seen from a great distance;
as an oversized green bib overall;
as poncho flapping in hard rain;
as an unexpectedly handsome face afloat in a long black overcoat;
as rocking your cloud;
as threatening to burst;
as an untrained swaying;
as an Australian halo;
as unremembered;
as your hips’ awkward furniture;
as a swan in water;
as sinkhole on a golf course;
as News International;
as desirable terracotta roofs;
as the best part of town;
as hanging out of an open window;
as covered;
as laced in;
as a forest of sunlight and spin;
as a systems engineer;
as the best theme tune;
as laughter just about to be sick;
as deep breathing;
as built;
as trade;
as embrace;
as nest;
as hesitation;
as flexing belly;
as escape;
as stopping when it hurts;
as thirst;
as unless -
as invisible technology made with exotic materials;
as rare earth;
as raw earth;
as more;
as more;
as not there, there;
as yawn;
as grope;
as possible, technically possible;
as evaporated;
as franchised;
as unbounded by geography;
as short-termism;
as expensive;
as generally porous;
as protected;
as inside;
as proper;
as controlled;
as a more advanced means of conspiracy;
as attrition;
as betrayal;
as the absence of terror;
as peace;
as reconciliation;
as sometimes impossible but always worth trying;
as creating space;
as inhabiting space;
as the conquest of space;
as only space;
as protesting;
as work;
as the Internet;
as raising serious questions;
as responding convincingly;
as unstable;
as unaligned;
as unable to forget;
as long-term self-interest;
as that small Scottish town;
as two hundred and seventy Americans;
as a brutal;
as open;
as progress;
as in power today;
as a long spoon;
as Mandela;
as parallel;
as outdated;
as gradual;
as hope;
as flow;
as able to engage;
as darkness;
as railway;
as naked trees;
as the last light;
as grievance;
as accommodated;
as its own rationale, not ours;
as the future;
as position of strength;
as a vast concealed bomb;
as a half-licked vanilla ice-cream;
as sodium orange;
as spider;
as ecstatic webs;
as sterile;
as sickening;
as under attack;
as who and what we are;
as glare;
as a sky of cranes;
as intelligence;
as security;
as it, or something similar;
as a colleague called ‘darling’;
as uncertain success;
as a xenophobic, right wing Norwegian;
as a children’s cartoon;
as not new;
as an oven of golden meat;
as a well-intentioned mistake;
as exceptional;
as a safe haven;
as coming in too fast;
as squeaky;
as apology;
as preparing for the Inquiry;
as an edgy atheist comedian;
as strange music from Macedonia;
as the smell of burning;
as children pointing;
as inner earworm;
as electronica;
as ending;
as the road home.
Photo by, Tyrone Lewis