What do you do
anything for?

you do it
for what the mediaevals would call
something like
the Glory of God


doing it for money,
that doesn’t do it;

doing it for vanity,
that doesn’t do it;

doing it to justify a disorderly life,
that doesn’t do it;


look at Briggflatts here…

it represents the best
that the people were able to do

they didn’t do it for gain;
in fact, they must have
taken a loss


whether it is a stone next to a stone
or a word next to a word,
it is the glory—
the simple craft of it

and money and sex aren’t worth
bugger-all, not
bugger-all


solid, common, vulgar words,

the ones you can touch,
the ones that yield

and a respect for the music…

what else can you tell ’em?