Stooping slightly, she drew a laboured breath
one hand on the pantry door, steadying herself;
one hand on my shoulder; 'Are you there? '
...
I do not embrace change.
At this stage in my life,
ebbing away inexorably
from girlhood to middle-age
...
light and dark at play
cross the dappled water
I hear the frost break
underfoot, like glass
...
I bought wrapping paper from the street sellers,
the best stuff, cheap and bright;
for I remember Christmas mornings,
peering in the early half-dark-
...
Low cries of heron; curlew calls and circles.
In the chill air
I shiver, stamp the cold earth, hug goose-fleshed arms against
the damp
...
I have seen
the best of my warband
struck by arrows
from treacherous hands
...
Lord Vesuvius sits sullen;
it's been a long time since
his last tantrum. We are still
counting the cost, we tell him
...
It's a long road to come
from seventeen and scared
to thirty odd and counting.
It's a long hard road
...