By — Victoria Fleischer Victoria Fleischer Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/weekly-poem-mark-ford-reads-loco-parentis Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Weekly Poem: Mark Ford reads ‘In Loco Parentis’ Poetry Sep 1, 2014 6:00 PM EDT Mark Ford reads “In Loco Parentis” from his collection “Selected Poems.” In Loco Parentis were some quite creepy men—one used to lie down on the dayroom floor, then get us all to pile on top of him—and a basilisk- eyed matron in a blue unifrom with a watch dangling beneath her right collarbone. Thump thump thump went her footsteps, making the asbestos ceiling tiles shiver, and me want to hide, or run like a rabbit in a fire… What we lost, we lost forever. A minor devil played at chess with us, forcing the pieces to levitate and hover, flourishing swords, in midair. I’d grasp them now, the orotund bishop, the stealthy knight, the all- knowing queen, but they dissolve in my fingers, refuse to return to the board, to their squares. Photo by Mark Hinkley courtesy Coffee House Press.Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Mark Ford is the author of four collections of poetry, including “Soft Sift” and “Six Children.” “Selected Poems” is his most recent work. Ford is also the author of the biography “Raymond Roussel and the Republic of Dreams,” and a translation of Roussel’s last poem, “Nouvelles Impressions d’Afrique.” That translation was the runner up for a PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. Ford has also written criticism. He published two collections, “A Driftwood Altar” and “Mr and Mrs Stevens and Other Essays” and has had his work published in journals such as the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. Ford earned his BA and Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and he received a Kennedy Scholarship from Harvard University. He currently teaches at University College, London. Excerpts from Selected Poems by Mark Ford courtesy of Coffee House Press. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Victoria Fleischer Victoria Fleischer @vlfleischer
Mark Ford reads “In Loco Parentis” from his collection “Selected Poems.” In Loco Parentis were some quite creepy men—one used to lie down on the dayroom floor, then get us all to pile on top of him—and a basilisk- eyed matron in a blue unifrom with a watch dangling beneath her right collarbone. Thump thump thump went her footsteps, making the asbestos ceiling tiles shiver, and me want to hide, or run like a rabbit in a fire… What we lost, we lost forever. A minor devil played at chess with us, forcing the pieces to levitate and hover, flourishing swords, in midair. I’d grasp them now, the orotund bishop, the stealthy knight, the all- knowing queen, but they dissolve in my fingers, refuse to return to the board, to their squares. Photo by Mark Hinkley courtesy Coffee House Press.Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Mark Ford is the author of four collections of poetry, including “Soft Sift” and “Six Children.” “Selected Poems” is his most recent work. Ford is also the author of the biography “Raymond Roussel and the Republic of Dreams,” and a translation of Roussel’s last poem, “Nouvelles Impressions d’Afrique.” That translation was the runner up for a PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. Ford has also written criticism. He published two collections, “A Driftwood Altar” and “Mr and Mrs Stevens and Other Essays” and has had his work published in journals such as the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. Ford earned his BA and Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and he received a Kennedy Scholarship from Harvard University. He currently teaches at University College, London. Excerpts from Selected Poems by Mark Ford courtesy of Coffee House Press. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now