I did not understand stanzas 1, 2, 5, and 6 in "Lament" by Gillian Clarke.

The copy of Clarke's "Lament" I have access to does not
have stanza divisions, therefore I can only make a reasoned guess at what you are
calling stanzas. Starting with what I see as stanza
one,

For the
green turtle with her pulsing burden,

in search of the breeding
ground.

For her eggs laid in their nest of
sickness.

the explanation is
fairly straightforward. Turtles lay their eggs in the sand of their habitat beaches. If
the sand has been polluted by ocean "junk" debris and made impure, then the turtle may
be said to be laying her eggs in "sick" sand, or a "nest of
sickness."

"Lament" is a poem of grief for ... all the things
enumerated in the stanzas. In fact, the word lament in the title
serves as the first word of each sentence that begins "For ...,": e.g., "Lament" ...
"For Ahmed at the closed border." In stanza two,

readability="9">

For the cormorant in his funeral
silk,

the veil of iridescence on the sand,

the
shadow on the sea.

Clarke is
grieving the great bird called a Cormorant that spreads its massive black wings to dry
them, looking in its "funeral silk" feathers and iridescent "veil" like the watcher at a
funeral "on the sand"--perhaps the funeral of the turtle eggs in their "nest of
sickness."

Stanzas five and six add the cause for the lament Clarke is
singing (poetry is traditionally considered the poet's song). In stanza five, one cause
is the metaphoric representation of war, "the missile's thunder." Another from stanza
six is "the stink of anger,” which is presumably the inciting factor for the "missile's
thunder." Stanza seven laments the results of the causes revealed in five and six in the
lament ...

readability="11">

For the burnt earth and the sun put
out,

The scalded ocean and the blazing well.

For
vengeance, and the ashes of
language.