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  1. Culture
7 July 2021

The NS poem: Flowering currants

A new poem by John Burnside. 

By John Burnside

I would step through that scent on the way
to nowhere, adder’s tooth
and cullet in the grass, my body
suddenly akin
to April rain;

chancing my luck, at large in the summer heat,
I crossed into the shadows, where a boy
could sing himself to sleep and wake up
naked and abandoned, scarred with touch

and full of voices that were not his own,
his mouth a bruise, all memory a blur,
and everything he knew of House and Home
abandoned to the greenwood
like a snare.

John Burnside is a Scottish author and the New Statesman’s nature columnist. His latest collection of poems, “Learning to Sleep” (Jonathan Cape), will be published on 5 August.

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This article appears in the 07 Jul 2021 issue of the New Statesman, The baby bust

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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