21 DECEMBER 1962, Page 22

same New Start

Stone sparrows perch in air all stone; The petrifying morning looks

A tree to stillness; a fossil flower Clutches the light with stony hooks.

As though a moment had come to stay: As though a river, hard as flints, Stood solid still, its whorls and whirls As motionless as fingerprints.

Till memory jolts the dozing world And in an eyeblink sparrow flits, All feathers, into time. The river Comes to itself and flows in it.

The petrifying mind that is A moment's morning lurches and, Back into business, throws up worlds And sparrows from its juggling hand' ,.,10

NORMAN Mac,,"