Cleaving Larkin

Bitter Poet Laureate
—for Philip Larkin

the man—madam thatcher
picked for—next poet laureate
before the choice—of ted hughes
was a bitter—cynical man

his name—philip larkin
giving the reader—a thrill
your childhood—your wife
your crummy marriage—things like
what you do in bed—how you screw

stop looking blue—it’s too late
give me a couple—of generations
you’ll look—just grand
I’ll write—the crummy reviews
and the blurbs—on the jacket