Friday Poetry: U. A. Fanthorpe

Happy Friday!

I have been at school today which was a bit of a shock because I only usually do school at the beginning of the week. This week has so far been rather busy so not much reading has happened but I’m still trying to fit in as much as I can.

The poem I have chosen today is by a new poet for me. Ursula Askham Fanthorpe (1929-2009) was an English poet, who published as U. A. Fanthorpe.

Atlas

There is a kind of love called maintenance,
Which stores the WD40 and knows when to use it;

Which checks the insurance, and doesn't forget
The milkman; which remembers to plant bulbs;

Which answers letters; which knows the way 
The money goes; which deals with dentists

And Road Fund Tax and meeting trains,
And postcards to the lonely; which upholds

The permanently rickety elaborate
Structures of living; which is Atlas. 

And maintenance is the sensible side of love, 
Which knows what time and weather are doing
To my brickwork; insulates my faulty wiring;
Laughs at my dryrotten jokes; remembers
My need for gloss and grouting; which keeps
My suspect edifice upright in the air,
As Atlas did the sky. 

U. A. Fanthorpe