Morning

The gentleness of secretaries in the morning is something

to behold. When they are arriving, fluttering through the

office and settling to their desks. They are cheery when

exchanging greetings and stories. I have noticed the

gentleness of secretaries before the day sets in and

before they are no longer available to themselves.

CAROLINE YASUNAGA

Hard Lines 3 (Faber & Faber, 1987)

‘Morning’ seems to me a marvellous example of unadorned simplicity, both tonally consistent on its own terms and entirely suited to its occasion.

Ann Sansom has a great workshop exercise involving writing about mornings using the poems of Billy Collins and Jonathan Swift. I think Caroline Yasunaga’s poem is up there with them. It is the only poem of hers I have seen.

This is a shame, because ‘Morning’ is perfect.

It is a poem of presence and paying attention. In drawing attention to its own noticing, of ‘gentleness’, ‘greetings’ and ‘fluttering’, the poem requires us to observe what is otherwise forgotten before ‘the day sets in’, transforming its occasion as it proceeds, but never seeking to outstrip it. I can’t ask for more.