Walls

WALLS

Through the walls

my neighbours

make love.

Her cries

cling

like the trail of snails

upon the kitchen floor,

clear, transparent,

hard to brush off,

as I lie

empty in the night.

This poem was first published in Joe Soap's Canoe and was included in the Grandchildren of Albion anthology. It was performed on BBC Radio 4 for which I received a cheque for less than £10. I didn't cash it, but kept it as a souvenir to show my grandchildren.

Poem -The Breaking of the Blood

The Breaking of the Blood

It is very clear to me,

as it is clear to all of us,

that memory

of the first trace of blood.

It was a surprise,

as it is always a surprise,

for each woman

who comes upon herself

with the breaking of the blood.

And I thought as I gazed

at my blood upon the water 

of the time

when reaching 

into fine white snow

my hand found glass.

I thought

of a child’s fairytale

of a queen at a window

wishing herself a child

snow-white

and lips of blood. 

This poem was first published in Grandchildren of Albion ed. Michael Horovitz