You’ve seen millions of them, haven’t you?
Or thousands, at least,maybe
tens of thousands -bees & cats
&dogs & clouds & trees & butterflies
& flowers & sheep & cattle
& leaves & blades of grass
Other things
Tens of thousands, at least
Yet there’s one, sometimes,that
allures your eye for longer
than usual; maybe it’s the light,
the mood you’re in,but
there’s something about that robin
in the Y of the branch,about
that cat, asleep on the lean-to roof
about that pine-cone, a
grenade against the blue
You look longer
You gaze. You
Study.
Well,energy must be transferred;
carbon is only ever rearranged.
That floating dandelion seed,flaxen &
white & electric – I saw it last
on my grandmother’s head.
And the stain on the moths wing,
the maroon stain, it’s
exactly the same shade
as the blood caught beneath
my granddad’s fingernail
from where the anvil caught his hand
in a factory. Ten
thousand times
you’ve seen these things,ten
thousand times at least
.
Niall Griffiths
Picture Nick Victor
Liverpool born (1966) author Niall Griffiths is in my opinion one of the most talented contemporary writers in Great Britain at the present time.
Consistently excellent since his groundbreaking debut novel ‘Grits’ in 2000, Niall has carried on delivering some of the most innovative, daring and uncompromising fiction in what is often a stuffy/tame UK literary scene.
His last book ‘Of Talons and Teeth’ (2023) was no exception to a long list of exemplary works including ‘Sheepshagger’, ‘Stump‘, ‘Wreckage’, ’Runt‘, ‘Grits’ and the iconic ‘Kelly and Victor‘, which was turned into a successful film directed by Kieran Evans in 2000.
In 2015 Niall Griffiths published ‘ Red Roar: Twenty Years of Words’.
A bumper collection of Poems Niall had written alongside his novels over two decades.
Following my interview with Niall Griffiths published April 2025 in International Times
I approached Niall again with a view to getting some of his excellent poems into future issues of International Times l- something IT said it would be happy to do.
Neill replied to my request to go ahead with selection- in his usual ‘ let’s go for it,and get the next round in ‘ style.
“And as for the poetry, Jeez yes, share them with International Times. Would you choose a handful to send them? I trust your judgement, brother.”
NG
.