About Gary Bills:

Gary Bills was born in Wordsley, in the West Midlands, and currently lives in Herefordshire. He has published two poetry collections, which are The Echo and the Breath (Peterloo Poets, 2001) and The Ridiculous Nests of the Heart (bluechrome, 2003). In 2005, he edited the anthology, The Review of Contemporary Poetry for bluechrome, sold on behalf of the Stroke Association. He has won various prizes, including Poetry on the Lake’s Bill Winter Award in 2003, for the best short poem. Gary is a graduate of Durham University, where he studied English Language and Medieval Literature.

Quelle: poetry p f

Dandelion Clocks

"How easy it is to make a ghost"

Keith Douglas

While dandelions tell their feathered time,
Tired soldiers cross the meadow under heat.
The youth in the gun-sight cannot be aware
How light has turned his hair to shining down.
He sees his girl back home - her naked lips
Are only naked now, because they blow.
Her lips are shining red, yet so exposed,
He has to turn his head. The sniper swears,
But softly. No one hears. The head turns back.
The mind turns back..."Three days ago, no more,
She wore her dreaming eyes and that white dress.
She blew until the grey smoke formed a drift,
And counted time away with naked lips."

in collection The Ridiculous Nests of the Heart, 2003,
bluechrome, ISBN 1-904781-03-9;
also published in Orbis, 126

(winner of readers' popularity poll, issue 127)