JOHN HAYNES

Only child of seaside entertainers. Has published three volumes of poetry, Sabon Gari (London Magazine Editions), First the Desert Came and then the Torturer (under the name of Idi Bukar, with RAG Press, Zaria, Nigeria), Letter to Patience (Seren, winner of the 2006 Costa Award). Prizes in National Poetry Competition, Arvon International Poetry Competition, Troubadour Competition, International Sonnet Competition. Anthologised in The Committed Individual (Penguin), London Magazine Poems (Harper Collins), Tying the Song (Enitharmon) Has also written books about language, style and African poetry, and some children's stories. Most of professional life spent as lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Now lives in Cowplain with Nigerian born wife and two children, teaches creative writing with WEA and Poetry Studio.
 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh92qTckn8Q
 

THE PIANIST LIVES BY HIS HANDS HIS HANDS ARE EMPTY
in memory of my father
 
The pianist lives by his hands.
His hands are empty.
In a room of old programmes -
 
pantos, summer shows, variety -
love is touch.
Love beats with felt hammers
 
at the subtle cage,
beseeches
with huge
 
eyes from a silent screen,
ends with this sequence
dissolving unresolved into the apple trees,
 
the grass, a brilliant
starling of sequins.
 
[first published in London Magazine]