Who has seen the blackthorn gift of the lengthening evenings?
Pledging another spring it mantles the edge of the wood and white as the ghost of March flowers by the edge of the road.
Whose is the blackthorn blossom?
Does it belong to the name at Lloyds who owns these woods and fields?
Where among the shivering walls that have built the cardboard city could the blackthorn blossom flower?
The flower itself is a wall hiding that shameful city; its fires of invisible anguish are a white and burning bush.
Kathleen McPhilemy This poem is taken from Kathleen McPhilemy’s collection ATented Peace (Katabasis, 1995). Her latest collection is The Lion in the Forest (Katabasis, 2004).
This poem is taken from Kathleen McPhilemy's collection A Tented Peace (Katabasis, 1995). Her latest collection is The Lion in the Forest (Katabasis, 2004).