Indomitable modernist Chovis Bagnorth no longer occupies the spotlight on the stage of British poetry but, in his day, his obscurity was legendary. Here is one of his less known works, read by the poet lui-meme.
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ALPINE SCOUTING
We strengthened our legs at Sous Velous
Using bull oil and the bark of the beady pine.
Gum bees hummed what seemed like the Marsellaise.
Jean-Paul had crocked his toggle;
Marsh widgeons wheeled.
The field was white and to cross was a shin-bleaching.
"Where the foot falls, the boot falls too," le maitre had said
But as we trekked, news came from Laprune of the English orchestra.
A wood fox wailed like Baudelaire's kazoo.
We supped at Botte de Liege where can be plucked
Gooseweed for firemaking. When we opened the silver tin
It was encore les haricots.
Basildon 1933
Duncan Bannatyne addresses the problem of James Joyce's ULYSSES