A Worn and Emptied Map
Co-ordinates of childhood reappear in drifts
and odd sensations: beneath these umber roofs
and tangled awnings, where thatch half-tumbles
as though to be gathered for a blaze,
there’s something in this boy who rains
blows and snubbings on his friends to keep them
distant: scuffle of dust, territory
of yelps and yawps and puckish jabs.
Then flurries, scattering each other, fists as nerveless
pistols for the persecutors kicking quick
at shins.
They’re plotting, taunting him with songs.
Their impishness – a misspent truth I thought
I would forget: an unloved figure’s fumblings.
Find me in this coltish spin of limbs.
Michael Loveday lives in Bath, England, and works as an editor/mentor. His most recent book, Unlocking the Novella-in-Flash: from Blank Page to Finished Manuscript (Ad Hoc Fiction, 2022), won a Best Indie Book Award and the 2024 Independent Press Award for Writing and Publishing.
More work by Michael Loveday
Tel: 028 7126 6946
Email: hueditor@theverbal.co
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