27. Al-Basir – Awakened Sight

Suggests understanding, insight, perception, awareness ---
'From the beginning of my life I have been looking for
your face, but today I have seen it' Rumi

Twin Towers

Many lives depend
upon
red faced
rectangles
running with rain
water
far above the grey
pavement.

She blew, blew, blew – blew – blew

Paddington loco heads off west;
grey the concrete, grey the steel.

Square as lego – tenements rising –
blue veranda, blue verandas.

Blue the lorries, blue this Westerner,
blue the railings, blue containers,

grey the landscape, old potatoes,
humble winter, blue, blue, blue.

Face value

Looking at the face
of a clock, it seems pretty
simple – all about hands
washing a face - time and time again

but I know, behind the numbers,
a faithful engineer has expressed
in manifold tiny detail
torque and cogs, design and energy

(worked loads out) and, even when features
seem fine on the outside, lots
of whirring’s going on behind scenes
- winding up, turning and ticking along -
crafted by skilful hands;
whenever I look into a face.