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21 Jan 2023

Robin
Houghton

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New Moon

& we were shot
down with rain

After David Hockney’s

The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020

(No. 346, May 22nd)

                           each drop long & direct as a streak

                           of milk from an udder or stroke

                           of a pen    making points all around

                           needling our heads    & the pond

                           exploded with rings     each line

                           hit its target then the next then the

                           next         we smiled at the noise

                           drenched in applause    & wet

                           punctured our clothing & clouds

                           relieved themselves     returning

                           water to water     now picture it

                           backwards:       concentric circles

                           crammed in a pond     each centre

                           the centre of an upwards shaft

                           or a stalagmite      a maypole maybe

                           a finger-post showing us where

                           to direct our gaze &     give praise

                           or blame & blame & blame if we dare

Behind the poem...

The inspiration for this poem was created on an iPad by iconic British artist David Hockney: part of a series of 116 images under the title, The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020. I went to the exhibition of these images at the Royal Academy, where the vivid colours and many versions of the same subjects – familiar trees and views, a farmhouse, a treehouse – had an overwhelming effect on me I found hard to rationalise. Image 110 (numbered 346) of rain hitting a pond’s surface stood out for me. It reminded me of Dante’s concentric circles in water at the start of Paradiso 14. I wanted to bring into my poem the inevitability of nature; create a sense of community, of shared experience; make this an ambiguous take on spirituality.

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© 2025 Original Authors

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