Poems by Richard Skinner

Richard Skinner gave a talk at the Small Pilgrim Places Network gathering back in October, and I was really touched by his poetry and so got hold of a number of his collections.

There was a lightness of touch to his work, the ability to give a subtle twist to a familiar idea.

Reading his collections I found in general his poems were perhaps strongest when they address ideas about faith and spirituality, maybe these had an extra bit of grit with which to work around.

Of the poems Leaping & Staggering is perhaps Richard signature:

For some,

there is the death-defying leap,

clearing the chasm with one bound,

arms flailing,

a cry of triumph,

all terrors left behind

on the far side,

only joy and happiness

ahead.

For others,

(by which I mean you

and me)

there is no triumphal leap,

only a staggering lurch

to the edge of the chasm.

Dizziness strikes,

and a long, sliding, scrabbling descent

is followed

by a long, weary, scrabbling ascent,

until, arriving at the top,

we find ourselves, once again,

on the wrong side of the chasm.

And while we staggers stagger on,

the leapers continue to leap.

One day, perhaps,

we will learn to leap,

and they will learn to stagger.

While from his most recent collection "the logic of whistling", from a set of poems inspired by Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam I found amazing power in the following

In the almost

of not touching

Adam holds his breath:

one slip and

annihilation

is assured. God's judgement

is perfect: His finger

tantalises.