Boxes

Boxes

Boxes have always held fascination for me
- Helene has “done” drama at “The Hub”
Hub of what?
The Universe, Time, The Nativity? –
The Crib is a box
And the coffin is a box.

I like graveyards,
Old hospitals guarded by yews
Are holy places too
Yews can seem dark and poisonous,
So can a view among headstones
At dusk. But not so?

Recently I slept rough in the graveyard
Of St Mary and St John in Cowley Road
It was late September or October –
Chestnuts of magnificent beaten gold
Sent from leaves like brass peacocks

Now I carry a family jewellery box
On my painful daily journey
A journey ecstatic but painful
Night is dark
My room box dark and safe
It is terrifying to be alone.

Christopher Baily
November 1998

©estate of Christopher Baily

drawing of antoine

© Estate of Christopher Baily