Spectator poems
From the magazine

The Murmur

Robert Saxton
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 11 October 2025
issue 11 October 2025

Om – OMG!

The cosmos sings! A few can hear

            its soft wild background murmur,

its love song from the wild frontier.

            Then wonder shades to worry,

            as Earth, distressed, gets warmer.

We share forebodings with our friends.

            We start to say we’re sorry,

            we say we’ll make amends.


Diehards dismiss the cosmic sphere,

            the sound comes from inside us,

dark twisted throbs inside the ear

            that seal us in our sorrow.

            The cosmos can’t abide us.

We’re just its awful waking dream,

            the murmur of tomorrow,

             tomorrow’s pent-up scream.