Steven Blyth
November the sixth
The smell of smoke in my clothes is like something nasty
that’s spread,
Fireworks in the garden seem like blackened crops;
The bonfire’s dry ashes - as grey as the morning’s cloud -
Are like the first fragments of a sky starting to collapse.
Today, mum gets her biopsy and blood results.
Last night she insisted we do things by the book -
Fireworks in a tin, spent sparklers dunked in buckets.
And she made sure we stood well, well back,
As it seems she has from us lately,
The needle’s bruise on her arm’s all that gave things away.
No clue in what she said or did, dad sworn to secrecy.
“I didn’t want you to worry. I’ll be OK.”
That said, I can’t believe she’ll soon walk to the hospital
Without seeing the burnt world as bleakly as I do.
Though when I phone to wish her well,
She still won’t let fear through,
Changes the subject to our son, her first grandchild,
The rockets she pointed out to him, his “Ahs!” and “Ooos!”
It made being out in the bitter cold night worthwhile.
Page(s) 21
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