Read My Poem And Buy The Book

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?