Poem of the Week: Andrew Philip

Published on Wednesday 8 April 2009 15:53

THE inextricable link between our suffering, our sense of celebration and our hopes for healing is concisely and mysteriously captured in this poem by Andrew Philip. It is from his first full collection, The Ambulance Box (Salt, 12.99).

The Ambulance Box

No one can swear how it fell

into our hands. No one

can fathom its substance or build.

It mystifies all

who think of themselves as whole

but those of us huddled

round our various wounds

are at home with the box

and all it contains.

Hear us,

shoulder to shoulder in the dusk,

celebrate life – sprained and splinted

broken

bandaged

set to heal

You can borrow The Ambulance Box from the Scottish Poetry Library, which also lends by post. Tel: [phone], e-mail [e-mail] or visit www.spl.org.uk