William Easton
Born in Glasgow, William Easton is a teacher, curator, editor and writer who has moved across an incongruous selection of roles in the UK, US, Canada, Poland and Turkey. He has published three children’s novels, a collection of 100 short stories as well as having written several works of nonfiction in subjects ranging from design education to art criticism. Currently he lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
Herbal
On the third day,
God asked Lucifer,
still in grace,
to help invent flowers
God with broad brush strokes dealt with the architecture of
Oak, ash, elm, beech, birch, holly
The devil
detailed the stinking arum
Poured poison into flytraps
Went ape-shit sixties crazy with toadstools
Took grape and grain on a night out
Taught goutweed to hate gardeners
Sharpened thorns on rose and bramble
Made kelp slippery and intoxicated jimson weed
Took tobacco behind the gym hall
Shaped the fleur-de-lis and cuckoo-pint
Forced cowbane to learn Greek
Helped mistletoe up into the branches
Gave crampons to the strangler-fig
Dusted downy-mildew with dandruff
Dripped syrup into sugar cane
buried twisted bog oak
And pointed poppies to the sun
Sheila-Na-Gig online 