I wrote this a couple of years ago and submitted it to a few publications as you do. It has ended up being published in Creel 3: An anthology of creative writing; a product of the Centre for Creative Writing at Essex University. I could not be happier. I read it at the launch evening, along with some other lovely and talented writers and fellow postgrad students. Held at The Wivenhoe Bookshop as part of the Wivenhoe ArtSea Festival, (and published by their own publishing imprint Wivenbooks), you could do worse than visit a brilliant independent family bookshop and buy a copy for yourself.
Questions
If the Jackdaw
that struts across your lawn
like a soldier on
parade
stopped and spoke
to you of his loneliness,
Would you listen?
If you could hear
the cry of the salmon
caught in the
eagles claws,
Would you care?
If you saw the
fear in the eyes of the moth
trapped in the
spiders web,
Would you set it
free?
Does the noise the
doe makes
as she tries to
find her way back
to the safety of
the herd
disturb you?
When the leaf
falls from the tree
do you feel
sadness for its loss,
or joy at the change
of seasons?
If you had just
one wish
from a Djinns
lantern
would you ask for
your heart's desire
or would you set
another free
from the prison of
their own longing?
How many lies
would it take
to awaken the
phoenix of truth
that sleeps on
your tongue?
and how many lives
will you need
to live
before you can
look death in the face
and still walk the
path you have chosen?
Have my questions
tightened the rope
you bind yourself with
or opened a door
to a greater perception?
Only you have the
answer.
I am just a white
room
on a sunlit day
with a mirror on
every wall.
Wherever you turn
you will see your
own reflection
looking back at
you.
Will you live
here?
