the green turret tail.

the eyeball, its one black stud.

the golden bit follows

the turquoise tag;

belongs to sky.

the beak.
its little poisoner of song.

once at the sundial and once at the birdbath

told the nervous young to peck at moss
alone.

chooses to sit on the engraved ‘N’,

its three pointers drumming.
a little politician with souffle feathers.

its one black stud

eyeing me at each window.

I’ve seen it but once before.

though it’s clear it knows me more

each peccadillo
ducking beneath curtains.

sweeping crumbs away.

I must make peace with the world tomorrow.

before it crumbles away.

I must make mother’s pea soup.
I must learn when to tell the world
that the tide is low.
I must mould these promises into an earthworm,

fling it out the window;
an appetite at bay.

Katie Stockton

 

Katie Stockton is a Welsh playwright and poet. A graduate of the University of Warwick, she is currently studying a Master of Arts in Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia. She has recently had a play produced in Norwich’s Maddermarket Theatre and her poetry is included in the recently published anthology Like The Sea I Think.

© 2019