Jim Bennett lives near Liverpool in the UK and is the managing editor of www.poetrykit.org. His most recent publication is a poetry collection called "The Man Who Tried To Hug Clouds" Bluechrome Publishing 2004 (2nd edition 2005). Jim teaches Creative Writing at the University of Liverpool and tours throughout the year giving readings and performances of his work.
Winter 2008
Table of Contents - Vol. IV, No. 4
Poetry Interview Translations Fiction Book Reviews
Jim Bennett
the invisible
the library
was invisible to everyone
except Mr. Blunt
on the north wall he saw shelves
full of novels
one shelf his favourite authors
Dickens Orwell and Hemingway
followed by several shelves
of criticism
on the wall facing South
shelf after shelf of science fiction
lurid paperback pulp novels
from the 1950's and 60's
Heinlein Asimov Blish
and later writers
Niven Card Pratchett
stretch in vibrant covers
across the wall
then the poetry books
and books about Bob Dylan
followed by other biographies
then histories
of the 15th and 19th Centuries
in here
Mr Blunt sat day after day
read his newspaper
while his library
remained invisible to everyone
except him
Mrs Blunt did not know
it was a library
she thought it was a sitting room
with doors opening onto the patio
and hand carved wooden furniture
from her favourite shop
the next room however
was hers
and although Mr Blunt
thought it was a dining room
it was really Mrs Blunt's
invisible art gallery
full of constantly changing
invisible art
Dali Klimt Bacon
sometimes Impressionists
sometimes Renascence art
fought for wall space
but on the wall opposite the window
where light was best
Picasso's Guernica always hung
and Mrs Blunt would sit
to drink her tea
and trace the lines
as she listens to the news on her radio
and meditates on
the tragedy of war
upstairs on the main landing
the bedroom however
was always just a bedroom
and here Mr and Mrs Blunt
ensured (as they always had)
that imagination
was left outside
© Jim Bennett
