You made me slow down, be more present. The to-do list will always be there – ever-growing. Just like you. Emails, ironing and organising can wait. Before long you’ll be crawling, running, leaving. I think I’ll just sit here, in the morning winter sun, with you lazily feeding, enjoying this moment. There’ll come a day…
Category: Poems
To the Mummies Rocking Their Babies to Sleep
To the mummies rocking their babies to sleep: I see you rocking your baby in that new rocking chair while the aroma of poo hangs in the air. I hear you pacing the rooms hushing “Shhh” on repeat, waiting for baby to be heavy with sleep. I feel your hearts bleeding from inconsolable crying, praying…
The Joker
The Joker In they come from the rain. Dripping, adjusting, furrowed brows softening. Peeling off layers, rearranging, shaking heads of fluffy hair. In they come from the rain. Water puddles, hoods dribble, wallets found – menus coveted. In they come from the rain. Pints in hand, orders placed. To the warmth of The Joker, in…
A Sestina for “Matthew”*
I never met a man who was quite so confident in himself. The way he took charge of me shrouded his deep insecurity. Yet lying in the hotel bed, I lay with a man full of hurt, who believed life had not been kind to him and it had made him hard. Reader, he divulged…
I Lie in Bed
I lie in bed thinking of what I’m yet to remember and what I’m still to forget. What memories are bound to be laid down? Which events will come and go and who, who else will feature in the story of my life? Will this person make their mark? Will they be a protagonist or…
Battlefield
The battlefield behind you
tells not of bloodied corpses
but of poppies;
each poppy a lesson learnt
from a romance
or a dalliance.
To navigate this war zone
you’ve used intuition and strategy –
Those Chaotic Twenties…
Those chaotic twenties,characterised by comparison and rumination;when career successes brush up against career panics.And Saturday night’s laughter shape-shifts into Sunday’s regret;as frivolous explorationtransforms into “unbecoming behaviour”.Through which independence beckonsand financial demands loom,yet childhood lurks behind our shoulders.But those chaotic twenties,as love, desire and passion are no longer entrenched in shame.And we approach our thirties a…
Bruises
Trigger warning: rough sex (consensual but rough) It wasn’t long before the blood rose to the surface. A red slash on my hipfrom the crack of the whipwas the first to appear. Next came the speckled purple and blueon my boob, slapped by you. How would my cheek react? Hands around my throatmaking me chokeas…
Oceans
Your voice envelopes me across oceans. Letters on the page transcribe a deeper intimacy and the confidence with which you speak rouses me down the telephone line. And I feel like I’ve known you for years. Photo by Sithamshu Manoj on Unsplash
Pop
You don’t like it when I mention the breakup; My words pop the bubble you’ve formed around yourself – like a comfort blanket. No one’s broken up during a global pandemic before; there are no hard-and-fast rules (not that we were subscribing to rules, but some guidance might be nice). We’ve been apart for four…
Still Searching for Prince Charming 