Poetry

Short listed for the Yeovil Poetry Prize 2022

Bring me to life
So I may taste
The ghost
Of my name
On your
Lips.
Warm breath
Pressed to
Cool skin
Drawing me in.
A balm to soothe
Everything.

Bring me to life
So I may see
The burnished copper
Of skies in a storm
And the crimson sun
Born
From the jaws
Of a waning moon.
The teal blue 
Of tidal pools
Breathing salt
And sea-glass
Like polished
Jewels.

Bring me to life
So I may pause
On the very cusp
Of waking.
And you
My saviour
Steal the night
So I may breathe
Sweet
Uncaged
Light. 

Inspired by the poem of that name by Dylan Thomas.  It’s one of my favourite poems. Death is seldom a comfort, but I am comforted each time I read it. 

‘And Death Shall Have No Dominion’ by Dylan Thomas

Death shall have
No dominion
In darkness 
Settled in sand. 
These shadows have 
No power when 
The sun births seeds
From the ground. 

And death shall have 
No dominion
In tides pulled forth
From the moon.
For flowers grow
In fields at war
From blood and bone
They bloom. 

And death shall have 
No dominion
Nor shroud of 
Salt and stone.
For we are at once
Forgiven
And will never walk
Alone. 

I am melancholy
Quietly consoled.
Dipped and drawn
In rings of 
Lavender
Then painted
Liquid Gold.

I am melded 
To be reborn
In silver and gilded light.
A meadow made of
All things lost.
This reply to
Unwavering night.