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Poetry Library Southbank Centre - The Poetry Library housing the Arts Council Collection at Southbank Centre

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Sarah Osborne

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Statue

I stand as statue,
Carved in cool white marble,
Bemused by images that pass.
Notes of music carried on air,
Black dots of noise in white silence.
Nothing can touch me in my chasm of pearls,
I am numb in my soul.
Cleansed of noise and dirt.
Severed strings cut clean.
Screams stamped out with a will.
Replaced with tranquility.
Healing scars of use with quietness.
Carpets and curtains dull sound.
Treading carefully,
Each step a threat to my solitude.

You can not touch me.
Your voice may not echo in my mind.
It threatens the years of cleansing,
The fight to evict reality.
One by one I unpick fingers
From the clamouring hands that claw me,
Frozen solid by ice-cold hate.
A sculpture of palms has become my fortress,
Golden rings my carpet of petals.
A lace veil covers my eyes,
From the searching beams that look for life.
I barely breathe,
My blood limps to my heart.
My journey ends, I am complete.
At last I reach a half life.

 

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