Poems about the V&A: 'Small things' by Nii Parkes

i

place one hand on the left pillar
another on the right
and summon Samson's strength
to conquer your blindness

as time flits and the mist lifts
behold a kingdom unfurled
before you majestic buildings
between them streets

streets for trading
streets for bargaining
streets for walking
streets for lovers
streets for kings
streets for beggars
streets for arguing
streets for meddling
streets for peddling

endless streets of life
unclassifiable from distance
baskets of people
like oranges
all the same
yet each with its own seeds
each with its own volume
sweetness
bitterness
each eaten differently
by kings and beggars
as they walk the streets
the story of these pillars
could swallow you whole
prejudices and all
like a small thing

ii

that ring
amandite with gold
translucent brown

made for a royal hand
of rock dug from beneath
the feet of a labourer

survived royal and rube

that ring smelled the streets
as it emerged from its chrysalis of stone
coaxed lovingly into shape
by the callused hands
of a royal jeweller

that ring is the lie the royal lived
when he believed
he was the first to wear it

the stars know
that the moon saw the young jeweller
compare the brown finish of the ring
with the moist dark flesh of his lover

the wind heard him whisper
that he could never make anything as beautiful as her
even if he died
and learnt from the gods

the ring tasted her taut nipples
as the jeweller and his jewel
bled into each other
like cooking spices

iii

small things

place one hand on the left pillar
another on the right
and watch the streets
between the majestic buildings

streets of dust
where the dead rust

and ask yourself
who can name oranges
in a basket?

and if all men go to dust
can we tell the grain of a king
from the grain of a beggar?

and do we care?

or do we brush these small things
off our pristine clothes?

About the author

Nii Ayikwei Parkes was born in the UK in 1974 and raised in Ghana, West Africa. He writes poetry, prose and articles and is the author of three poetry chapbooks; 'eyes of a boy, lips of a man' (1999) and 'M is for Madrigal' (2004) and the self-published 'shorter' (2005), which is a vehicle to raise money for a writers' fund in Ghana.

Nii has performed poetry all over the world on major stages like the NuYorican in New York, The Royal Festival Hall in London, Java in Paris and Paradiso in Amsterdam as well as at festivals such as the Lancaster Literature Festival and the Austin International Poetry Festival. In 2002 he completed a six-week tour of the United States, and in 2003 he was given an Arts Council Award for his just completed novel, The Cost of Red Eyes, which was the subject of a recent radio documentary on the publishing industry. Nii was a 2005 associate Writer-In-Residence on BBC Radio 3 and was the featured face for poetry in the 2004 Time Out London Guide.