A passing van says Make me up
but I couldn't if I tried
or perhaps I’m already in on the act
of imagination before I know it
Might I be made up from the dimpling
of that one cloud in all the blue
from the fortitude of the lighthouse
and the wonky sequencing of telegraph-posts
Am I made up from the line of long light
on the opposite shore
from a sort of silvered belonging stretched out
near any horizon
Don't mention the memory of the fury of the sea
against the black rocks says she
Remember the allure of the rosehips
and berries on the mountain ash says he
I am what this place has made me
a bag of assorted items for the nature table
an accumulation of voices and the art
of the troubles
There is violence in the grass as well as growth
Gill Barr’s poems have appeared in a range of publications such as: Bad Lilies, The New Humanist, The New European, The Honest Ulsterman, Atrium and Riptide’s Climate Change Matters anthology. Gill appeared at the Ledbury Poetry Festival in 2022 (Event 68). She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University, Belfast and runs poetry workshops. Gill was born in Derry / Londonderry and attended First Derry Primary School, now the Verbal Arts Centre in Stable Lane. She currently lives in Dorset, but returns home frequently.
More work by Gill Barr
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