It's Still Life

Five Pieces for Day One

I. Sinking Ships
That summer the lake was deep, dark and bottomless.
I hadn’t learned to swim yet. I remember thinking,
So this is what a sinking ship feels like as it goes down.
Dad backed the boat right off the ramp that summer.

II. Van Gogh Gold
Mum bought herself a new wedding band after her
real own went down the plughole. Shiny new gold,
like a Van Gogh sunflower colour. Dad never knew.
It was that summer I discovered bumblebees sting.

III. Dirt and Bones
For months, I wept at the thought of him. Me,
caught between layers of grey and black and white.
And then, there’s his scent. Warm strawberries.
I don’t weep over him anymore. All that’s gone.

IV. Sparks
The only bit of Girl Scouts that I liked was torching
marshmallows in a blazing campfire. And sparks
rising like urgent souls to heaven. I pretended
to like tents, and shivering in the wet grey cold.

V. And More Sparks
It was a curious thing. Walked a mile amongst
the dust and green of lazy air, and I inhaled
surprise when I first saw a firefly. Like small
moons spinning August into endless stars.

Written for Miz Quickly’s Day One Word Thingy.  Photo by Davor Denkovski on Unsplash. Shared with @Experimentsinfc #APoemADay on Twitter   ©Misky 2021