So, I turned to lens cutting for a living.

Corrective work, in a time of short-
sightedness.
————–An astigmatic time
too: few saw how Os gaped
on drawn faces – none heard them.

Precise work. Blown glass alone
kept its shape, amongst so much
hot air.
——–Still, a glance up

from my cutter one afternoon
was the only point I saw
violence in focus. Show pieces
were cracking up in the heat.

All summer, tyres roared in backyards,
as they burnt: there were roars
of laughter in the streets.

I made a steady living, under
the occupation. Precise,
painstaking work –

this is to correct the record.


Alexander Shaw is from South Tyneside and currently a student of English and German at Jesus College, Oxford. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Ink Sweat & Tears, The Literateur and The Cadaverine. He was shortlisted for the London Magazine Poetry Prize 2016, won the Martin Starkie Prize 2015 and was commended in the Christopher Tower Poetry Competition 2014.

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