RED SKY AT NIGHT
Entre chiens et loups,
between the dogs and the wolves.
When shepherds take their lambing-sticks
and pen the clouds in.
That time we shed our outdoor sight
and become, like dogs, all nose.
That autumn of every day
when hunters gathered in for the heat.
Entre chiens et loups
when the night sparks up
and the sky blushes
at cloven excesses underfoot.
This is a joint collection with Tricia Torrington, where the two poets take the same subjects and write their poems on facing pages.