The Gnat Nebulae

for J.C. Alldridge Full pummelling fisticuffs Stitch over stitch In and out Imperceptibly kaleidoscopic Swirling from ear to ear Sporadic Thrumming mystical notes Notes of whisper Whisper in the ear Now a bothered swish of clawing Cleaving slipping fingers Immalleable rolling universal ball Microcosmic needle into Macrocosmic wool all Silently thudding kneading pulling Sealing a sin all opened unforgiven Eternally whispering to a few And never really heard Pummelling sewing the invisible centre Round and round the darkless sun Only the end that began Only a scratch and a bother What bother to scratch For scratching bothers Bothers a scratch Scratch and not to bother Scratch Scratch Scratch ©: From: T. Wignesan - Paris, 1957 (from Tracks of a Tramp. Kuala Lumpur-Singapore: 1961; first pub. in "Forum Academicum", University of Heidelberg, 1957)