i.
Blessed is she
who washes her hair
in the Rivelin
who believes
in the rush of the weir
after rain
where the white
bellies of the minnow
are flat and round
as communion.
Blessed is she
who misremembers
how she got here.
She will inherit
the sea.
ii.
In the corner of the pub, I tell you the worst thing about myself, and you, in your green sweatshirt and my imagination, tell me everyone’s done that, say ten Our Fathers, one Glory Be, walk out on the history of home, the sanctity of unchange, walk across rivers the depth of 4am that preach insomnia and lead to temptation.
iii.
The winter life bluebells away and with it
all sense of sanctuary. But safety’s for the suburbs,
the ho-hum and goatish. I believe in one divine
and aphoristic fall. I believe in falling often.
iv.
Forgive me
whoever, I’m trailing
impure thoughts
along the river
like bindweed.
‘Fairytale No. 13’ appears in Angelina D’Roza’s debut collection Envies the Birds. Listen to Angelina D’Roza reading this poem:
More than 50 previous Featured Poems can be accessed via this index (many of these pages also contain audio recordings and short films).
Longbarrow Press 