Two Poems by Jon Whitbread

Poems and sculpture by: Jon Whitbread

Without denying the validity and necessity of our most pressing philosophical and spiritual concerns, in these two poems poet and sculptor Jon Whitbread offers new ways to consider old questions and the possibility that “We have all/ That we require// We are where/ We need to be.”

Nietzsche In The Cherry Tree

There’s no such thing as
What came first,

The chicken
nor The Universe.

To the free
The faithful are trapped,

To the faithful
The free are lost.

We have all
That we require

We are where
We need to be.

Nietzsche’s in
The cherry tree.

Leaves part,
Reform, part.

Sad, mad eyes
Recomposing.

These Are The Ancient Times

I approach the bridge
Sentinelled by shrugging cormorants
The pebble nestled
Egg-like in my hand
I plan to sacrifice
To Sacrifice.

I surprise myself
And sling the stone into the river
From the bank instead,
Sisyphus Released,
As we all telescope backwards
Into Primitive.

Jon Whitbread is currently in his second year of his MA Fine Art (Sculpture) at OCA, teaching stonemasonry and carving at the Building Crafts College, London and still crossing the border between poetry and sculpture. One of his sculptures is to be exhibited at the London offices of Faber and Faber in February. You can see his work on Instagram at thenewstonesculpture.