Bridget Joseph
Afterwards
(for Sorrel)
Don't rush. Take more time than you did
with Dad's things.
By all means, be quick to bag–up
my socks, my skinny jeans and the drawers
stuffed with favourite sweaters...
most of them ill–fitting and some in need
of a wash.
Hurry along to Oxfam or Age Concern.
But wait. Slow down.
My poems are here to stay.
By all means, hurry to garbage my trainers, wellies,
...anoraks that smell of dog;
my beaver skin and the muskrat, T–shirts and shorts.
Be quick to trash my dream catcher; shells and fennel toothpaste
...and the talc you never liked.
But wait. Slow down.
My poems are here to stay.
By all means, discard my letters from old loves,
yellowed photographs of family camping; my books that always bored you:
garden birds and nesting boxes.
Sift through treasures from other countries; my fossil and the crystals,
moonstone and chimes; pressed flowers I picked in arctic places
...carvings of my boat and the baby loon.
Take care and keep safely, my watch and the two rings
from my left hand.
Hold on to my elderly teddy–bear; binoculars, and my camera
that belonged to Dad.
Remember my poems.
with Dad's things.
By all means, be quick to bag–up
my socks, my skinny jeans and the drawers
stuffed with favourite sweaters...
most of them ill–fitting and some in need
of a wash.
Hurry along to Oxfam or Age Concern.
But wait. Slow down.
My poems are here to stay.
By all means, hurry to garbage my trainers, wellies,
...anoraks that smell of dog;
my beaver skin and the muskrat, T–shirts and shorts.
Be quick to trash my dream catcher; shells and fennel toothpaste
...and the talc you never liked.
But wait. Slow down.
My poems are here to stay.
By all means, discard my letters from old loves,
yellowed photographs of family camping; my books that always bored you:
garden birds and nesting boxes.
Sift through treasures from other countries; my fossil and the crystals,
moonstone and chimes; pressed flowers I picked in arctic places
...carvings of my boat and the baby loon.
Take care and keep safely, my watch and the two rings
from my left hand.
Hold on to my elderly teddy–bear; binoculars, and my camera
that belonged to Dad.
Remember my poems.
Page(s) 43
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