Poem of the week: ‘The Afterlife of Lumber’ by Mark Tredinnick
“The Afterlife of Lumber”, from his collection Fire Diary (Puncher & Wattmann), sees Tredinnick infuse a relatively mundane act such as burning wood with a spiritual glow. The poet appears twice at the Scottish Poetry Library in April, first alongside fellow Australian Emily Ballou on 4 April, and then leading a workshop on 6 April exploring “poetry and place”. They should act as an appetiser for his new collection, Bluewren Cantos, published later this year.
It smells like honey
the boy says
opening the door
and breathing in
what the furnace
is breathing out.
These offcuts
I’m burning, I guess.
Felled trees redeemed
and lathed and felled
again. Laid waste,
they burn like saints.
And though they smell
like afternoon tea
to a hungry boy,
they smell like the sweet
hereafter to me, late
one day in winter.
You can borrow Fire Diary from the Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Edinburgh EH8 8DT. Tel: 0131-557-2876, e-mail [email protected] or see www.spl.org.uk for details.