“The past is a foreign country…. Il passato è una terra straniera” Gianrico Carofiglio
1.
The walk-in wardrobe
plundered, duchesse treasures for
small, rouged pirate girls
2.
We stand stoically
the photo shivers in the
bare winter garden
3.
In the caravan
We play Gin Rummy and Snap
Soft summer rain falls
4.
Deck chairs on pebbles
Hot, sweet tea warms our blue lips
The sea is not warm
5.
She rag-rolls my hair
in her housecoat by the fire
to soothe my wild tears
6.
I could've played the
mandoline, banjo or guitar
But I play the piano
7.
Diving like mermaids
from the rocks/we feared the kelp
with its long, cold arms
8.
The porcelain cat
Clings to the smoky glass bowl/
The seashell teapot
9.
Her soft hands are small
narrow blue veins through pale skin
The marcasite ring
10.
She smells of powder/puff
and red lipstick, worn flat
she cushions me
11.
Cigar smoke drifts through
cold sips of snowball/we bob
for glacé cherries
12.
Dougie quietly
torments the piano/ he's no
Oscar Peterson
13.
Kissing your cold brow
My dad's face was flushed ruddy
Excitable grief
14.
The lime green mohair /
sofa was supposed to be
mine but Pat burned it
15.
Your inner life was
drowned in a bucket by a
daughter's fearful hands
16.
A quiet heather/ cradle
Brings the shy heathland
birds in close to us
17.
You dance light-footed
to Brotherhood of Man
We laugh helplessly
18.
Once, I cried so hard
We turned the car around and
Went back to your house
19.
The bathroom is cold
Ice breath forms / my mother sings
"stand up for Jesus"
20.
The heather carpet/
mutes the walk to Tryfan
I can hear the sea
21.
She buys Sayers cakes
on Saturday, the lime green
jelly one is mine
Siobhan Cawson-Mooney is our current Poet-in-Residence. Every now and then we find a voice that sings to us. Those voices that show us something new - voices from out there that somehow resonate deeply. Voices we just 'get'. When that happens we graciously ask that they join us for a time. To live and dream along with us.
We're constantly on the look out for new artists, creatives and initiatives to feature in TheNeverZine - so if you are, or know someone who is going their own way and doing their own thing on their own terms and would be a good fit to feature please smash that button below and get in contact. By talking to each other, and sharing our journeys, ideas and insights on creativity, art, mental health and resilience we can all create, share and thrive together. Nice thought that.
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