Leicester Kyle: Selected Shorter Poems

"Another Rare Botanical Discovery for the Millerton Botanist!"
(Jim Conolly: 2005)

Yesterday I finished posting online the last major remaining section of Leicester Kyle's posthumous poetic works: a selection of his shorter poems, the ones he didn't himself collect in book form during his lifetime.

It's a bit under two years (15 February, 2011, to be exact) since David Howard wrote to me suggesting that we finally bite the bullet and face up to our duties as Leicester's officially designated literary executors. The dual website that resulted, one site devoted to indexing and secondary literature, the other to primary texts, which we launched on July 4th 2011, is now substantially complete.

Of course there are still a number of things to do: I need to make a list of his published poems in periodicals from the copies included in his archive (the remaining sections of which I collected from David when I was down in Dunedin in June last year). The - very perfunctory - chronology page on the website needs a lot of work, too.

Those are inessential tasks, though, I feel, when set alongside the basic imperative of getting the bulk of his work up online so it can be read by poetry-lovers and ecologists everywhere.

That's not to say that I'm anticipating an avalanche of interest: just that I think that Leicester's unique blend of environmental activism, combined with spiritual acuity and a lively interest in postmodern aesthetics, makes him a very useful role model for contemporary poets. If he has anything to say to writers grappling with similar issues in their work right now, then his writings have to be available. In that sense, then, I think David and I have fulfilled our trust. I hope so, anyway.

Leicester was a very good friend of mine, but he was not always the easiest of men to get on with. The surviving volumes of his diary (in particular) contain some very unvarnished word portraits which I doubt he would have wished to be made public. Similarly, there are a good many tentative and unsuccessful pieces in the two fileboxes labelled "Collected Poems," which contained (as he told me) all the work in this genre he wished to preserve.

While I've thought it best to present in full all of the finished works he left us with: the 19 books extending from Options (1996 / 1997) to Breaker (2005), as well as complete texts of those which were substantially complete (albeit unpublished) at his death: Message from a Lightboard (1996), Koroneho (1996 / 2011), The Galapagos Tracts (c.1999-2006) and the God Poems (c.2005), I've accordingly been far more selective with the shorter poems.

Boxfiles I-IV (of 8)

To give you a sense of what I mean, here are a few statistics to mull over:

• 19 published books (1996-2005) = 913 pp.
• 4 posthumous books (1996-2006) = 303 pp.
• 2 boxfiles of shorter poems (1983-2006) = 957 pp.

To be more precise, there are 746 poems and sequences included in the two boxfiles (some in more than one version). This translates to 860 separate poems, occupying the 957 pages listed above. Quite a few of them (66, to be precise [= 80 poems / pages]) are, admittedly, included in one or other of the 23 books. But then there are another 36 uncollected poems among his computer files, not to mention various miscellaneous verses in Christmas cards, pamphlets, etc.

In all, then, I've so far counted up 2194 pages of poetry left behind by Leicester on his death. The 23 major books account for 1216 pp. of this. I've also posted 14 pp. of miscellaneous pamphlets and ephemera, plus 24 of the 36 uncollected poems on the website. Of the remaining 746 shorter poems and sequences, I've selected roughly a quarter, 193 [200/680 poems; 253/957 pages]. This brings the grand total up to 1570 pp. of his poetry now available online.

I think that's enough. Admittedly it's a subjective judgement. There are still 488 poems and sequences (530 separate poems / 624 pp.) left: all accessible in typescript, and some available as wordfiles also. Future students are welcome to look them over, but I don't myself feel that it would add greatly to his reputation to publish them all online at present. Even Keats and Pushkin must blush to see some of the slighter verses included in their collected works by sedulous editors. The time may come when that's appropriate for Leicester Kyle as well, but that time is not yet.

So, in any case, here they all are:

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Collected Poems I: 1983-1998

Shorter Poems: 1
(1983-1995)

Contents:


1. Grapefruit [1983]
2. In a New Country [n.d.]
3. Hallelujah [June 1994]
4. Kerikeri, 1946 [n.d.]
5. Dancing Maria [n.d.]
6. Ancient Worship [n.d.]
7. Coal Kingdom [March 1995]
8. Pipes [April 1995]
9. House Guest [n.d.]
10. Edge [July 1995]



Shorter Poems: 2
(1995-1996)

Contents:


11. I Love You (for Miriel) [n.d.]
12. Quietly [Sept 1995]
13. Maundy Thursday at the Mangonui Pub [n.d.]
14. God [n.d.]
15. Karamea Jones [n.d.]
16. Blue Orchids at Burnetts Face [n.d.]
17. Unworldly Thoughts in an Auckland Brothel [n.d.]
18. Walking to Taylor's [n.d.]:
    • Clematis
    • The Heads
    • Geckos
    • Water
    • Cave Houses
    • My Father
19. Caravan Club [n.d.]
20. Where Do I Want to Be [14/1/96]
21. Time Please [n.d.]
22. A Walk Around My Church [n.d.]
23. Living on the Cheap [n.d.]
24. I do magic ... [n.d.]
25. Clean Café [n.d.]
26. My Father’s House [n.d.]
27. Sweeney on a Bicycle [n.d.]
28. A Visit to My Psychiatrist [23/9/96]
29. A Cliff on Mt. Owen [n.d.]



Shorter Poems: 3
(1996-1997)

Contents:


30. His Place [n.d.]
31. Re-Possession [n.d.]
32. Deep Throat [n.d.]
33. Morning Magic [n.d.]
34. Your Spirit Comes to the Aid of My Weakness [n.d.]
35. A Visit from the North [n.d.]
36. On the Slab [n.d.]
37. Sometime in the eighties ... [n.d.]
38. Greymouth [n.d.]
39. The Christchurch Botanical Gardens Horticultural Apprentices’ Mutual Improvement Society [n.d.]
40. Breakfast in Our Block [n.d.]
41. This Book of Ours [3/10/96]
42. Goethe in Sicily [3/10/96]
43. Hound [n.d.]
44. Ancient Worship [n.d.]
45. Ibn al Farid (Cairo, 1280) [n.d.]
46. It’s so quiet ... [21/2/97]



Shorter Poems: 4
(1997-1998)

Contents:


47. Mavis [n.d.]
48. Day From Under A Lillypilly [n.d.]
49. Last Night At Poetry Live [1/5/97]
50. Comfort Stop [5/5/97]
51. Passing On [5/5/97]
52. ‘The nothing, not pure nothing, left over …’ [5/5/97]
53. Ornebius aperta(new-settled from Australia) [21/5/97]
54. Letter to Lorine (Niedecker) [21/5/97]
55. Twice Shy [21/5/97]
56. Villas in Milton Street [6/6/97]
57. A Letter from Elise [24/6/97]
58. Mary's Yard [24/6/97]
59. A Question At The End Of The Line [11/9/97]
60. The Lady Meets The New Land [11/9/97]
61. Death [30/9/97]
62. Precinct [30/9/97]
63. Epithalamion (for Anna and Richard, 14.6.97) [12/6/97]
64. By Touch [10/10/97]
65. To Live In A Cave [31/10/97]
66. rustling / says Jack ... [31/10/97]
67. An Artichoke In The White Garden At Gledswood [25/11/97]
68. On hot spring nights ... [27/11/97]
69. On The Way [27/11/97]
70. Small Change [27/11/97]
71. If I Were a Tree [27/11/97]
72. The Tent [31/12/97]
73. This ... [31/12/97]
74. Last Lost [31/12/97]
75. Her Grand-son’s Son [n.d.]:
    • When you found out …
    • Remember though …
    • Meet me Mama when I do …
76. If I don’t get my words out ... [12/2/98]
77. At A Time Of Sickness [12/2/98]
78. Birthday [17/3/98]
79. The Other Half [17/3/98]
80. Bivouac [17/3/98]
81. Independence Day [31/3/98]
82. Thelymitra pulchella [16/4/98]
83. Death In A Tower Block [16/4/98]
84. At Night [16/4/98]
85. Liturgy (for Miriel) [16/4/98]




Collected Poems II: 1998-2006

Shorter Poems: 5
(1998-1999)

Contents:


86. Surf [3/6/98]
87. I saw the soul ... [3/6/98]
88. An Incomplete List [3/6/98]
89. Over The Hill [3/6/98]
90. An Answer to the Last Thing [17/7/98]
91. Burnett’s Face [17/7/98]
92. Metrosideros [17/7/98]
93. Home Thoughts by a Rough Sea [18/7/98]
94. Sunday Morning at Millerton [19/7/98]
95. My Home [20/8/98]
96. Water Lines [n.d.]
97. Driftwood [20/9/98]
98. Dear Judy [21/10/98]
99. Cursor in a Tangled Field [23/10/98]
100. As In Burden Bound [27/11/98]
101. Marlowe Overwritten [3/12/98]
102. An Argument With Houses [22/1/99]
103. Below the Fall [23/3/99]
104. Life on the Flatlands [23/3/99]
105. New Year at Millerton [28/4/99]
106. Whistler’s Mother [21/5/99]
107. Local Resources [3/6/99]
108. The Call [3/6/99]
109. The Bones of an Arse [13/7/99]
110. A Rule [16/7/99]
111. Puzzle Poem [16/7/99]
112. My Coughing Cat [Sept ’99]
113. From ----, With Love [Sept ’99]
114. My New Flower [21/10/99]
115. The Buried Village [21/10/99]
116. It’s a stubborn day ... [2/12/99]
117. “The River Sluices with Many Voices” [2/12/99]



Shorter Poems: 6
(1999-2004)

Contents:


118. At The Falls [4/4/00]
119. Outage [4/4/00]
120. The City Lies Foursquare [n.d.]
121. Mr. Gonzales [10/5/00]
122. Battle of the Bands [10/5/00]
123. Lyn’s Zinnias [14/8/00]
124. The Great Buller Coal Plateaux [10/10/00]
125. Omnia Propter Femina [10/10/00]
126. Cars Cash and Convertibles [8/11/00]
127. I am two weathers ... [11/11/00]
128. The Plateau [11/11/00]
129. Downpour [30/10/01]
130. The Lesser Leptopteris [30/10/01]
131. Trail-Blazer [n.d.]
132. A Bone at the Bushline [n.d.]
133. Before the Throne [n.d.]
134. Summer, Sumner, 1946 [n.d.]
135. Mr Muir and Mr Emerson [n.d.]
136. A Work Of Love In Remembering One Dead [31/5/02]
137. The Impresario’s Muse [31/5/02]
138. Poa cita [31/5/02]
139. Endstop [20/12/02]
140. Posterity [20/12/02]
141. The Pit-Ponies' Picnic [1/7/03]
142. Swing-Bridge [1/7/03]
143. Night Shelter [28/8/03]
144. (Proust Says) [12/9/03]
145. I Like It When The Sun Doesn’t Shine [12/9/03]
146. Happy Valley [31/10/03]
147. In High Fog [20/1/04]



Shorter Poems: 7
(2004-2006)

Contents:


148. A Person, Two; if not the Sun [22/1/04]
149. ‘To Father Huc’s tree of Tartary / on which we are each leaves’ poetry.’ [26/1/04]
150. Ev [30/1/04]
151. If the words say silence suffers less / They suffer silence [26/3/04]
152. Portent [7/5/04]
153. The Tinder Box [7/5/04]
154. Mother [7/5/04]
155. View From the Roundabout [16/5/04]
156. Home [16/5/04]
157. Native At Midnight [16/5/04]
158. Diary Of A Country Cop [17/6/04]
159. To a Daughter Who Has Taken Her Life [11/8/04]
160. For A Lost Longdrop [16/12/04]
161. Tell Me [6/1/05]
162. Water Talk [6/1/05]
163. The Little Mermaid [6/1/05]
164. Useless Love [6/1/05]
165. Educating The Stream [6/1/05]
166. Opus [6/1/05]
167. The Four Comforts [4/2/05]
168. Scar [8/2/05]
169. The Toro Tree [8/2/05]
170. Gloomy Friday [15/3/05]
171. When The Bus Stops [4/7/05]
172. The Rain-Callers [4/7/05]
173. Herodotus [7/7/05]
174. Paris [8/7/05]
175. The New Mayor at the Old Mine [11/10/05]
176. time out [17/10/05]
177. Pre-Loved Days [16/1/06]

Rain:



Quiet Rain [19/1/06]

The Southerly [19/1/06]

Welcome [2/2/06]

Yesterday [2/2/06]

Flood [2/2/06]

From The East [2/2/06]

Night Rain [2/2/06]

With Ice [2/2/06]

Of Earth and Sky [2/2/06]

178. The Botanist and his Dog [15/2/06]
179. The Tree [15/2/06]
180. The Sky Must Fall [15/2/06]
181. We Were Talking [15/2/06]
182. Nematoceras triloba [n.d.]
183. The Creeping Sky Lily [n.d.]
184. Actinotus suffocta [n.d.]



Uncollected Poems

Contents:


185. After They Left [n.d.]
186. Blue Orchid [n.d.]
187. Braided River [n.d.]
188. By Hand [n.d.]
189. Clearance [n.d.]
190. Close-up [n.d.]
191. From the Dam, the Day After [n.d.]
192. Give to the Flower [n.d.]
193. Grace on the Plateau [25/12/99]
194. In a Secular Time [n.d.]
195. My Amiable Mate [n.d.]
196. Our New Snail [n.d.]
197. Photograph [n.d.]
198. Porphyry Reef [n.d.]
199. Potter’s Coil [n.d.]
200. Rising Damp [n.d.]
201. Sunday Late at Grafton [n.d.]
202. Tai Poutini [n.d.]
203. The End of the Day [n.d.]
204. The Hairdresser and the Hat [n.d.]
205. The Last Day [31/12/99]
206. Uncomfort Rock [n.d.]
207. Utu [n.d.]
208. Weak Before You [n.d.]



Pamphlets & Ephemera
(1996-2005)

Contents:


209. Christmas letter (1998)
210. Christmas letter (c.1999)
211. Red Dog / Brown (2005):
     • Red Dog / Brown
     • Where Francis first sang to St. Clare
     • Rules of Engagement

"Red" (2005)
(Jocelyn Maughan: Patonea, NSW)


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I thought I'd finish by reprinting one of those Christmas messages. It seems somehow to sum up how I feel about the whole enterprise, now that it's (mostly) finished, as well as being a beautiful elegy for Leicester's first wife Miriel:

REMEMBER MIRIEL, D. 29.3.98.

I’ve worked for you
for forty years or so,
wandering about
in some pretty strange places,
and liked it.

Thanks, God,
it’s been good.
You treated me well
and watched over those
whom I love.

But now, if you will,
let me be.
Let me off the hook
for a time,
to loaf in the garden,
write a poem or two,
and read a book.

Then, when I go to bed,
give me a long sleep,
and strength for a good work.

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