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Foley
Foley - Robert Seatter
“I worked for many years at the BBC, and occasionally it does creep into my poetry, as in this poem. ‘Foley’ is the name for objects used to create sound effects in radio drama. And often the most unlikely objects are used because they create the right sound.”
Foley
Corn starch is snow,
a pair of leather gloves is
the flap of a bird’s wing,
while a large staple gun
makes an excellent revolver shot,
and frozen Romaine lettuce snaps
sharp as a bone. Of course,
you knew the nothing
was what it seemed, didn’t you?
Cellophane crackles like the flare
of fire, coils of leftover audio tape
make autumn leaves
along everyday city pavements
or in woodland drifts.
Later, we’ll eat the lettuce,
we’ll wear those gloves
as we stroll out of Broadcasting House
into the November dusk.
Of course, that sudden rain
against our faces is real,
of course that voice and everything it says
is really my own.