I say it flew over London

by Fabian Peake

Five poems over five days (23–27 January 2012) 

Monday Loose Monk

Tuesday it took time for the green

Wednesday Woodcock

Thursday they they

Friday that light

 I Say it Flew Over London: edition silk screen print, available via shop

Perhaps art is too intent on completion. Life, after all, is unfinished. 

Because of the way I write, time and space can appear jerky.
In my poems there is frequently a disjointed, fragmentary and collaged quality.
This is because of my pre-occupation with visual and mental conflicts in art. 
Anything can be combined in a poem; there is even a place for blandness
when coupled with a sharp tongue.

The whole of art, for me, is a quarrel, a feud, a vendetta, a scrimmage,
a brabble and a fight. In my poems, the line is the battlefield.
The way a line reacts to the one below itself or the one above
is where the drama of the poem lies. The time factor often
changes in these poems.

Where one line might speak of a brief moment in our contemporary world,
its partner below or to its side could refer to an event several centuries earlier.
Within the space of half a line, the places alluded to in my poems can also
change – from ordinary, parochial settings to far-flung locations unknown to me.
There is an unavoidable parallel between how I build a poem
and the way that I construct a painting. 

Fabian Peake (b. Rustington, 1942) studied painting at Chelsea School of Art
and at the Royal College of Art. He taught as a teacher and lecturer for many years
in British art schools; and as a visiting lecturer in art departments in America.

He works in a range of media, largely based around painting, and has shown
in numerous exhibitions in Great Britain, Europe, China, the United States,
Mexico and the Dominican Republic. His work is included in private
and public collections in Britain, Europe, USA and Mexico.

Peake also writes poetry and short stories, which have been published in magazines,
pamphlets and on the internet (UbuWeb Editions). Poetry readings and talks
include Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London; Dartington Hall Literary Festival,
Totnes, Devon; King’s Place, London; The British Library, London;
The Old Operating Theatre, London; University of Texas, Dallas; among others.
See also http://www.fabianpeake.co.uk