Selected Poems
A few poems. Shortlisted for Bridport prize in 2021 and 2024.
BARREN
i stained the wood with my hands
now our house is red. like silence.
my mother carries water in buckets,
thick lead buckets on a spine rocker.
the sun rises and falls from bucket
to bucket. over my mother’s head.
A LIFE
i shall manage to live out a life
and commence a new one,
while you cautiously drag your feet
up the lime-washed stairwell.
and if gods so desire, i shall surely live in vain.
SPOTLESS MIND
and the sun rocks heavily in the liquid sky indecisive to roll towards, away,
or stay put as we roll through the thick jelly of air, sand and dust
— vigilant teeth and claws — in the torn flesh of the humvee, through
a faithless street, faceless crowd, apathetic sleep deprivation of being. until full stop.
NO.MAD.ICH.
— are you even in the country legally? — yes. i am a citizen. — huh...
the woman grabs her groundless feet into her knotty old hands and rolls away.
my palms are dry and washed out as the dotted old maps of my wanderings.
am i even in the country legally?
THE GIRL
the girl had a faded scar from her left ear
to her right knee. and missing front teeth.
she was eating an ice-cream. half of it melting.
running down her bitten dry lip, thin chin,
through her bony fingers round her muscleless
arm in a slow sugary stream. into her lap.
her knickers were heavily soiled. i assume, in—
as much as on the outside. she also wore sandals.
AMERICAN DREAM
the leaves turned but still in suspense
in the griddle of air. october dilemma.
she leaves barefoot. red shoes in her
hand clack as she walks. lacquered
song of retrieval of freedom - american
dream on the outskirts of a trailer park.