Sigggggh, I love Philip Larkin...

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since this thread was bumped recently i got a copy (collected poems) and have been enjoying it immensely.

Arrivals, Departures

This town has docks where channel boats come sidling;
Tame water lanes, tall sheds, the traveller sees
(His bag of samples knocking at his knees),
And hears, still under slackened engines gliding,
His advent blurted to the morning shore.

And we, barely recalled from sleep there, sense
Arrivals lowing in a doleful distance –
Horny dilemmas at the gate once more.
Come and choose wrong, they cry, come and choose wrong;
And so we rise. At night again they sound,

Calling the traveller now, the outward bound:
O not for long, they cry, I not for long
And we are nudged from comfort, never knowing
How safely we may disregard their blowing,
Or if, this night, happiness too is going.

Karl Malone, Thursday, 10 November 2022 20:56 (one year ago) link

The first stanza's last line.

Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 November 2022 21:07 (one year ago) link

"Horny dilemmas" as a bashful allusion to sexual frustration seems typical.

o. nate, Thursday, 10 November 2022 21:42 (one year ago) link


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