Miles Burrows' Powerful New Poem Takes Aim at Society's Treatment of the Elderly
British poet Miles Burrows has returned with a striking new work that confronts one of society's most uncomfortable truths - our collective cruelty towards the elderly. 'Missing You', from his latest collection Slow Puncture, transforms the moon into a witty metaphor for an isolated and neglected older relative, creating what one critic describes as 'a bizarre but far from unreal theatrical scene' that readers must stage in their own imaginations.
The Lunar Metaphor and Its Devastating Impact
The poem opens with a resonant whisper between characters: 'Did you know the moon was so old / It might have to go into a home?' This immediately establishes the central conceit - the moon as an ageing person facing institutionalisation. Burrows, born in Leicester in 1936 and now in his late eighties, writes with particular authority on this subject, having witnessed society's evolving attitudes towards ageing throughout his long career.
The moon-person in Burrows' imagination keeps 'edging nearer / The way old people do,' though the poet cleverly subverts this by noting the actual moon is yearly increasing its distance from Earth. This tension between perception and reality becomes a central theme as the poem develops what the original analysis describes as 'a focus on the sheer savagery of western social attitudes towards ageing.'
From Humour to Fury: The Poem's Emotional Journey
What begins as dark comedy gradually transforms into something more disturbing. The moon-person's listed failings include innocent habits like 'Peering into people's bedrooms' and the harmless practice of storing 'rice crispies' in the fridge. Yet as the poem progresses, the tone shifts from amusement to impatience and anger, with what the analysis characterises as 'a Greek chorus of unanimous disapproval' emerging.
Burrows systematically dismantles the romantic moons of traditional poetry, replacing them with an increasingly recognisable ageing human body marked by forgetfulness, hand-tremors, and 'skittering about.' The voice becomes 'like a nervous cough,' and polite concealment is urgently demanded. The repeated command to 'pull yourself together' takes on a particularly cruel edge as the moon-person's identity fragments.
The poem's conclusion offers little comfort. The eyes that once represented romantic mystery now 'look like two catacombs / And make me think of furnished rooms.' This bleak imagery, combined with references to 'abandoned creeds' and the Spanish Civil War, creates what the analysis describes as 'bone-cold bleakness.' The relatives making war on the moon-person are themselves moon-people, their dreams and beliefs ephemeral in the face of inevitable decline.
Burrows' Enduring Literary Legacy
Miles Burrows published his first collection with Cape when he was around 30, establishing himself as a unique voice in British poetry. After working in various countries and practising medicine, his 'more subversive vocation' was celebrated by Carcanet's 2017 publication of Waiting for the Nightingale. This was followed by a Collected Poems, Take us the Little Foxes, in 2021.
'Missing You' relates to one of the new poems in the Collected, Remonstrating with the Moon, though it expands significantly with additional characters and its sharp focus on ageing. As the analysis notes, Burrows deploys 'a rare satirical and self-mocking talent' that remains as potent as ever in his ninth decade.
The poem serves as a powerful reminder that while humour might initially draw us in, the most lasting poetry often emerges from uncomfortable truths. In confronting society's treatment of the elderly, Burrows has created work that resonates deeply in an ageing population, proving that his distinctive voice remains as vital and necessary as ever.
