An anthology of prize-winning poetry from the first five years of the Welsh Poetry Competition dropped on my door mat the other day. It contains my poem 'The Gatekeeper', and as it's been feeling quite autumnal these last few days, I've decided to post it.
The Gatekeeper
There’s no one left to mourn them.
Only stony-faced angels keep watch
over the names of forgotten children,
written in lichen,
blotted with moss.
Flowers must bring themselves:
dandelions for Mary Kate;
stately cuckoo-pints for Diana,
the siren shine of malevolent berries
no longer a worry.
From the tower
the clock strikes four quarters and one.
A gatekeeper settles on a stone.
Its wings wear the colours of autumn fallen,
umber and rust.
A clatter of jackdaws comes bustling back,
tatters the death pall with tender talk.
Playground voices shoulder through oak trees,
boisterously singing
the Hokey-Cokey.
Deborah Harvey ©2011
A selection of poems from my poetry collection, 'Communion', is available to read on the Indigo Dreams website. Copies can be bought from them, or from Amazon or W H Smith. Signed copies are available from me. Please email deborah.harvey@ymail.com for details.
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