10 JULY 1993, Page 31

A Slight Delay

A graveyard likes a sunny day, Especially in those corners where The stones' preponderance of grey Collects the monolithic air And cockeyed headstones lend their weight To epitaphs as autumns lean Lengthways into the desolate Corruptions of South London green.

At Denmark Hill the sun came out And from the window of the train October, like a tickled trout, Resurfaced through a week of rain, And vases straightened, granite shone, A damp gleam tracked a plastic hose, An angel hoicked a marble urn, Its legs turned smoothly varicose; Each plot filled with lopsided light And meaning as we trundled past Packed face to face and glad to get Our journey underway at last.

John Levett