A Pint of Light

by John Glenday

When I overheard my father say this
was his favourite drink, I imagined his body
filled with a helpless light. Years later

I watched him pour out the disappointing
truth, but still couldn't let it go: I'd dream
he was trailing home from the pub singing

against the dark, and each step he stepped,
each breath he breathed, each note he sang
turned somehow into light and light and light.

Judge's Comments - Martin Malone

Dualities of meaning are again what leavens this poem; an affecting view of a father through the eyes of his child's retained ideal. In just nine short lines the poem manages to cram in an entire life, a paternal relationship, an on-message play on the competition's theme word and vivid descriptions of pub-going habits. Within that, we see the shifting perceptions of a maturing child and a most unusual thing: the refusal to accept a loss of idealism in the face of greater knowledge.