Poetry on the Paragon: Stephen Payne

In Pattern Beyond Chance, cognitive scientist and poet Stephen Payne playfully explores the everyday from unusual angles. Like the best poetry, his verse provocatively explores the intriguing dynamics of human reflection and imagination. Stephen’s sometimes spare, always subtle poems have the force of emotional truth.

“I warm to my task by sampling a shelf

I’m unaware of choosing in—

perhaps light from the window

picked out a triangle of dust, a signpost;

perhaps the colours of certain spines combined

to capture my attention.

I’m celebrating what’s haphazard and accidental,

hoping to be taken by something

unfamiliar, charmed by a surface,

or else to recognise what I can no longer retrieve,

an old note to myself, buried in the stack.”
(from “Secondhand”)