Poem: ‘Returning the Gift’
James Lasdun, 2 November 2000
for Nicholas Jenkins
For my birthday my wife gives me a chainsaw; a shiny blue Makita, big as our child, heavy
as an impacted planet. On every part of its body the makers have slapped red warning stickers: Stop! Danger of Death! Do Not Operate
Unless Experienced! The manual elaborates: kickback, where the blade bucks back through your neck; blinding by woodchip or exploding fuel,
death by...