Remember, remember...

The fifth of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

I’ve been trying to find out who wrote the English folk verse reminding us of Guy Fawkes’ plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament, but to no avail. The poem appears in various forms, but the key lines have survived the centuries intact. In America the same poem is probably now best known for its use in the V for Vendetta film.

It may not be quite so catchy, but ShopCurious’s Poet in Residence, Matt Bryden, has come up with a curiously thought provoking new poem for Bonfire Night:

In the Field of Les Feux d’Artifices

The difference between les gants and les mitaines

is the space accorded each finger.

A warden tends the blaze of stacked pallets. They give

against each other with the emission of heat.

People disperse and we approach the tether,

regaining our lost degrees through proximity.

I hold a can in my hand,

my jacket holds another.

The light is one with the music –

a blur, momentarily focused as we pause.

Do you?