I wrote The Tone of Your Voice last year and was delighted for it to be published in Obsessed with Pipework’s spring 2013 issue.

It’s a poem about heartbreak.  Written in an understated style, the approach is pared down and economical.  This seemed an appropriate way to describe a heightened sense of loss that can result from a transformative moment in life such as this….

Martin Redfern

 

bondage - painted heartThe Tone of Your Voice

 

I watch you answer the phone.

From the tone of your voice,

I realise it’s over.

 

I hear the tenderness

I had understood was mine.

You run your fingers through your hair,

the breeze unsettling your dress.

I comb your exquisite face

to search for hope.

But your eyes are exuberant now,

you overflow with him.

 

I want to plead for what we once had –

instead I say nothing.

How do I tell you what you have told me?

 

© Martin Redfern   2012

 

The Tone of Your Voice was originally published by Flarestack Publishing in Obsessed with Pipework issue 62, spring 2013.

Tagged with →