Maggie Sawkins
Poem composed while doing a head stand
The fir cone I picked from a Corsican forest,
carried across an ocean
nestled between balls of socks,
has fallen from the grate and rests
where it meets my gaze as I pose
upside down in my daily practice.
I notice how it makes the perfect mandala,
its curved wooden petals
its skirt of hearts,
and in the moment after chanting
my thoughts thin and clear as tinsel
I wonder how, each year in the dim days
before Christmas, I have the gall
to consider spraying it gold.
Maggie Sawkins lives in Southsea where she runs Tongues & Grooves poetry and music events. Her pamphlet, Carcot’s Pet, is published by Flarestack and she has just finished her first full collection, Dear Mr Popa.
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