1 MARCH 2008, Page 31

Thom Gunn

We set out to explore the poison root, To etch the brain with new cartography, The harbour-glitter and the wine-dark sea.

The only rule was endless latitude. Let the unready falter and retire We loved and feared your eager solitude, The city as a man-made absolute, A sunset grid of immanent desire.

Let those of us who longed to board but failed Salute you in absentia, Captain Gunn, Now attitude and argosy have sailed Beyond the west. You had no other course But mustering your whole ‘hot, wasteful’ force To beach in the annihilating sun.

Sean O’Brien