'Tiny Clinging Curls(For Lyn) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

I remember you
looking almost

Audrey Hepburnish.

My big sister
& oh...that smile!

Touching my world
with the wonder of her

love.

We are Christmasing
the place

living in the candle's
glow

love
nothing but love

in almost slow motion.

The holly bites
your little finger.

I suck
the dropp of blood

that grows
& grows

until it is
kissed better.

You laugh:
'Ah...my little saviour! '

sighed with an almost
mock Victorian swoon.

Tiny curls
cling

to the nape of her
neck

like the tinest
of tiny seahorses.

We swimn
in the sea

of our laughter.

The next Christmas
you were dead

lost to this
world

leaving me
alone

to mourn
you.

I...unable to
save you.

Now...all these years
later

(years you never knew)

the holly
bites my little finger

& I suck it
quickly

tasting through
my tears

the sweet tang
of your blood

so alive
in my mouth.