Lisa Mansell

Sonnet 3 

in the rip of the first elizabeth 
                       stones chaffinch inch-by-inch to a chink-wall wallow 
      a vacant avalon                                       timbre and vivid 
that sickles the kiss of tomb-heavy tongues that song 
                                                                      that snog 
                                                 glottal and stomp 
      volcano and mauve like lovers 
                                                      ripe inside the epos eater 
                                      utter and pink-puck as tubas 
                                         ear-rough as rattle as rope as pourpre  
                       that reprise the pureé of arpeggiac rip 
                                              of nawns                             . 
                                                           of nouns 
of norman-down sounds that rune-murder rwyn and numb 
                rhombus            sabre                        and rhumba 

These poems were first published in Upstairs at Duroc. 14 (2013)