Fantasia by Richard Livermore

But I’d much rather dive
like a swallow or swift,

looping the loop
on a Messerschmitt’s tail,

like one of those crazy
guys in a Spitfire.

Tally Ho, Number One,
there’s a bandit above

blowing a kiss
with a promise of love.

• Biography: Richard Livermore was born in Sussex in 1944. He went to various boarding-schools and left at 15. He joined the Army, but was discharged 6 months later. He went from job to job and in 1974 to Newbattle Abbey College in Scotland. He has lived in Scotland ever since, except for 5 years in Spain. He has had numerous poems published in magazine and webzines in Britain and the USA, plus books by Lothlorien, Diehard and Chanticleer Press. He is presently retired.