Flowers and Flames

By Clive Linke

The author has devoted his life to expounding his belief that poetry seeks to divine the depths of spirituality and brings us towards an understanding of the experience of the soul. He believes that the practice as well as the study of poetry should be inculcated in the young as soon as possible. This has little to do with exams and the curriculum but much to do with living spontaneously. As he puts it:
‘The encouraging of poetry, as with the arts generally at an early age, bears fruit. I remember listening to my infant teacher reading a poem about snow falling in London to a silent and appreciative group. I have never forgotten it.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781398423657

Clive Linke

Clive Linke was born in Ilford, Essex in 1929. After one year at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where he was awarded a Diploma, he emigrated to Australia in 1949. He studied English, History and Philosophy at the University of Western Australia between 1949 and 1954, winning a prize for poetry. Following graduation he taught at various schools in Western Australia before returning to the UK in 1962 where he continued to teach until 1981. He was awarded an MA in Drama by the University of Essex and has appeared in numerous productions, playing roles such as Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman. Between 1981 and 1987 he travelled widely, with periods teaching in Singapore, Turkey, Denmark and Australia. He retired in 1987. He currently lives in Kent.

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About the Author

Clive Linke was born in Ilford, Essex in 1929. After one year at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where he was awarded a Diploma, he emigrated to Australia in 1949. He studied English, History and Philosophy at the University of Western Australia between 1949 and 1954, winning a prize for poetry.

Following graduation he taught at various schools in Western Australia before returning to the UK in 1962 where he continued to teach until 1981. He was awarded an MA in Drama by the University of Essex and has appeared in numerous productions, playing roles such as Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman. Between 1981 and 1987 he travelled widely, with periods teaching in Singapore, Turkey, Denmark and Australia. He retired in 1987.

He currently lives in Kent.

Dedication

Dedicated to Simon, Adam, Magritta, David, Christopher and Lisa.

Clive Linke

Flowers and Flames

Copyright © Clive Linke (2021)

The right of Clive Linke to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398423640 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398423657 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

Level 37, Office 37.14D

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London E14 5AA

Auschwitz

Savagery is clear

Glass ripped into concrete

On a garden wail

Jagged teeth of the cat,

In the rat’s throat

Drunk mangled by a passing car

Hair bloody under lamplight

White moon on black water

The yellow tiger hungry for prey

Crushing bones between its teeth

Saliva greasing the stripped hide of the deer

Hordes of vultures screaming above

Waiting their turn to tear and gorge.

Scuttling claws and claw and feathers

The sun’s blood reddening the wings.

Leaflike they descend again

Thick pitch vomits bodies saffron with decay

In the ragged hills

Insects hover iridescent and transparent

Smoke hovers over wire and the grinning claws of wire

Rusted and stained with vomit of bones and blood,

Stench from the stomach of Auschwitz

Stinging eyes and flesh.

Dogs strain against the wire

Spit dripping from fangs and the hot lolling tongues

My hands were torn from the wire

Wet and stained with clinging rust

Knives threatened my throat.

I trembled

Dogs tore at my flesh.

The amused ape loosened his gun

I tensed waiting for the shot

But heard only the thin scream of the wind.

In the night I said I do not want to live

And threw my blanket away for the last time.

I stepped out tor the last time

I looked forward to being a piece of flesh in a muddy pool

But I saw the gates were open.

The soldiers looked at me as though they were screaming inside

They said I was free to leave.

But what should I do if I go through them?

Start another life.

Easter Sunday in a Gloucestershire Village

We stopped in a small Gloucestershire village,

And down a side road where the sun was still,

Looked at the grey old church,

Which had seen how many centuries of sun?

Along the gravelled path, the moulded gravestones

Were peeled and eaten by the snow and wind,

Wind which carries rain along the lanes through winter trees

And touches last year’s autumn leaves –

The year’s before?

I rest on a stone bench under a warm grey wall.

Clouds are still above the tower,

Primroses lushly grow in this sunny square within the walls.

And daffodils of white and