Maggie Sawkins
My Daughter’s Habit
A month’s respite doesn’t stop the heart
tilting in its cradle at the knock,
the scene replayed before I open the door.
I know from her expression what it is
she wants, but still she asks, and I fetch
like a dog, hand over the score,
notice once more the half-moon scar
on the bone of her cheek.
The night swallows her shadow
catches my sigh as she walks away.
I lean awhile against the door,
listen as the wind worries the trees,
smother the thought: to press
a pillow against my slipping heart.
Maggie Sawkins lives in Southsea where she runs Tongues and Grooves poetry and music nights. Her pamphlet, Charcot’s Pet, is published by Flarestack.
Page(s) 23
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