Leaving
Listen.
Bricks that fathomed
Echo and sing,
Lathe and plaster
Clutch whispered secrets.
In their kiss
Monsters and angels,
Both,
Ablaze in bliss
Do you know us?
We, who birthed,
Hope from anguish?
Felt life-muscle beat
Strong, chest-deep
Yet, could not be
Contained:
Spewed laughter out
And shared the vision;
Bounced it off your surfaces
And later, in flood,
Off flesh and blood
Your embrace
Eased cold want;
Melted
Ice-teeth –
Keen teeth
That fed on
Cruel grief
And how you grew
And how you healed
And how you hailed
The silver future
In torn hollows,
In sweet alcoves,
Strength from
Sorrow came;
Yet now the walls
We hoped
Would stand
And hold
Grow cold
An anthology of modern short fiction recounting the quirkiness of the everyday, featuring DJ Mac and others.
DJ Mac is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland who fouters (dithers) with an itchy, scratchy pen in the moments when the bewilderment provoked by life settles. He is easily distracted by the bright pictures in his gallery.
I really love this poem. A fitting tribute.
Thanks Emma. It got some way to expressing how I felt, but I suspect it’s going to feel the slash of the editor’s pen – it doesn’t feel quite finished.