Home Page
TEXT
Text section Audio section Gallery section Video section Online Shop New items
Search this site Site Index RSS
Home » Text » Guest Poets » Peter Goldsworthy

A Statistician to His Love

Men kill women in bedrooms, usually
by hand, or gun. Women kill men,
less often, in kitchens, with knives.
Don’t be alarmed, there is understanding
to be sucked from all such hard
and bony facts, or at least a sense
of symmetry. Drowned men — an
instance — float face down, women up.
But women, ignited, burn more fiercely.
The death camp pyres were therefore,
sensibly, women and children first,
an oily kind of kindling. The men
were stacked in rows on top. Yes,
there is always logic in this world.
And neatness. And the comfort
of fact. Did I mention that suicides
outnumber homicides? Recent figures
are reliable. So stay awhile yet
with me: the person to avoid, alone,
is mostly you yourself.

Text

    Other Authors:
    • Guest Poets
      • Kapka Kassabova
      • Stephen Edgar
      • Olivia Cole
      • John Stammers
      • Isobel Dixon
      • Judith Beveridge
      • Peter Goldsworthy
        • Razor
        • Jokes
        • Eye of the Needle
        • The Dark Side of the Head
        • The Operation
        • Credo
        • Australia
        • The Blue Room
        • A Statistician to His Love
        • Morbid Song
      • Alan Jenkins
      • Christian Wiman
      • Les Murray
      • Liane Strauss
      • Simon Barraclough
      • Peter Porter
      • Jamie McKendrick
    • Guest Writers
    • Prose Finds
    Clive James:
    • Articles since 2005
    • Lectures and Speeches
    • Current Books
    • Books Out of Print
    • Lyrics
    • Poems
    • Poetry Notebook
    • Articles on Poetry
    • Author, Author

        Top  
    • About
    • Contact
    • Copyright
    • Index
    • Search
    • Site Map