1958

1958

there i’ve said it

it’s a date 

and when these poems say a date

i try to imagine

all there is to recall 

and all the time i am never sure

but a date is a date set 

and that one and only date sets the mould 

of this or that poem

the poet set it atop of the poem

so it’s important to say the date

the date the date the date

the one and only

there i’ve said it

let’s move on to it

the poem

and forget the date for now

the words will set the date 

and i’ll remember the day i read

it - the date of the poem 

there i’ve said it

12th November 1958

and roy fisher wrote it