His mother holds the golden vaseThat holds the bones of her only sonThat hold the memory of AchillesThat holds an eternal question When she took her infant to the river StyxAnd dipped her child in the waters of deathAnd won him this underworldly armourAnd slept easier knowing he was protected What if instead she had …
Category Archives: Poetry
If I forget to say thank you
If I forget to say thank youI know that isn’t rightBut it isn’t out of maliceIt isn’t out of spite If I don’t stop to say I love youIt’s not that I don’t careI just feel scatteredIn a million pieces everywhere If I never say I’m sorryI still feel it deep insideIt just got tangled …
Holding our breaths
A poem for election day Is this howThe Roman charioteersFelt when straddling two horses?Straining towards separate pathsDancing on the edge ofDisaster At leastThe Romans heldThe reins in their own two handsWe steer while yoked to madnessOn that at least weCan agree We hoverOn the future’sPrecipice HoldingOurBreaths Photo by Anastasiia Krutota on Unsplash
Drought
Look at the dried earthHardened, so that water onlySits on its crusted surface It will take months ofAbove-average rainfallTo restore the depleted reservesThat lie far, far underground It is only gradually that fluidCan be absorbed, softeningThe ground into a placeWhere things once again can grow It takes so much gentle healingTo recover from a scorching …
The selvage
The thread is fine nowAs thin as gossamerShimmering in the light There is a strange beautyIn these timesOf holding, and letting go I never believed in the fatesSpinning, weavingWaiting, releasing But now I see your placeIn life’s tapestrySo clearly My eyes may be wetYet my heart is fullYou are part of the patternForever Note: This …
Teatime
The tragedy thatA full fridgeIs cheaper to runThan an empty one. So the columnistAdvises placingBowls of waterOn bare shelves. Now in homesAcross the countryHungry childrenWill open the door – Only to be met withTheir own reflections. Note: This was inspired by an article in The Guardian. I understand the necessary practicality of the advice, but …
Sky and Soil
flying and fallingthe differencebetweenlooking aheadto open airandan anxious gazeat the ground Note: This was inspired by a bird flying outside my window. I played with different versions of this poem. Initially, there was more structure – firmer sentences, more words, capitalisation, punctuation, but it felt airier stripping that out. I tried to tease out exactly …
Missing mothers
Any student of fairytales will tell youAlmost nothing is as essential asA missing mother. The journeys and adventures belongTo the orphaned and abandoned;Not to those tucked safely in bed,Left with a warm kiss on their brow. For the longest time I thoughtThis must be a plot imperative.Of course there must be an absenceTo trigger the …
Questions
We commiserate so oftenAbout all the questionsOur children askThe constant chorusOf WHY, WHY, WHY? But maybe we shouldThink more about theQuestions they don’t ask. The things they knowAlready are too secretOr too shamefulTo be spoken aloud, The places they pick upOn our uneasy shifting,The averted gaze,The quick distraction; Or worse – the pregnant Pause before …
A Thanksgiving
There are some acts of kindnessSo profound that they go beyondOur ability to ever return the favour.All we can do is pay it forwardIn a spirit of blessed gratitude,Marvelling that the world can beFull of such kindness and grace.And at the very darkest of timesThat spirit of generosity will shineWarming our hands and our heartsAs …