The Lonely Tower / Mary Shelley by Byron Beynon

THE LONELY TOWER

Milton's Il Penseroso opened
your wide-eyed imagination,

clear details at midnight
with a ruined tower's mysterious

room lit alongside a starry sky.
The landscape's living moment

gathered in your head,
the earth's scented hours,

an instant born from memory
as you witnessed a view

gazing silently
into the future.

MARY SHELLEY

On the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein in1818

A survivor under a marble sky;
the birthday lake
where a silken balloon
turned to flame.
Her man-made creature
that walked with the spirit of an age,
a son called William, dead of Rome,
the husband drowned
in the July sea.
Flashbacks, remembrances,
occupied struggles in certain time,
papers and reputation
passed on,
regrets and frustrations,
exploded myths
in a fire which burned
throughout hell's lived-in cavity.

Byron Beynon's work has appeared in several publications including San Pedro River Review, The Yellow Nib (The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry), The Worcester Review (USA), and Crannog and London Magazine. Collections include The Sundial (Flutter Press), Cuffs (Rack Press) and The Echoing Coastline (Agenda Editions).