Kevin Higgins: The Art of Collaboration

I was in Ireland in June and attended the launch of Kevin Higgin’s latest book of poems titled Ecstatic.  Kevin reads one of his poems from that night here. Below is Kevin’s poem, The Art of Collaboration which you will find on page 49 of Ecstatic. I have a couple of favorites and this is one of them. The collection is dedicated to Julian and Stella Assange and published by Salmon Poetry.  You can purchase Ecstatic there. Richard Mellor

 

The Art of Collaboration

Whatever job he’s given,

the collaborator is a perfect fit.

A man of no fixed particulars.

His views are plastic

and always on the verge

of being melted down

and made otherwise.

His life is a full orchestra

of raised eyebrows

and suppressed twitches.

The collaborator laughs at your jokes

and makes it look like he means it.

 

Whatever it is,

the collaborator makes it his business.

He writes everything down,

especially your name.

The collaborator is awake tonight

and looking up the number

of the relevant government agency

so he can phone them tomorrow to tell them

what he’s heard you’ve been doing.

The collaborator doesn’t mind being put on hold.

 

The collaborator knows

the name of the woman, man, emu

you were with in that hotel room

you shouldn’t have been in.

 

The collaborator points the nice policeman

in the direction of those

the newspapers say are bad men (and women).

For the collaborator doesn’t discriminate,

except in favour of himself.

 

KEVIN HIGGINS