Sheena Blackhall Poems

Wagner thundered over Vienna airwaves
Deep into Indian airspace.
As the plane descended onto the racing runway
A brown doll on a beach flashed on the in-flight screen
...

Two tables along
From two Dutch lovers whispering
And a housemaid pushing a broom,
Three sparrows hoop round a menu.
...

His coming was so quiet,
Lightly, lightly,
Stepping between two firs.
I thought he had grown from the air
...

Her watch was hand-cuffed to wed-lock.
She was the pace maker. The peace maker.
Sleep was the anaesthetist, the only bolt hole out.
The walls were a silver screen,
...

Mrs Buddenheim's blouse
Hangs with Mr Johnstone's shirt
In Barnardo's window.
...

Igor Kadinsky's mug
Is green and tin with literary pretensions.
It yearns of setting its lip to
Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Yevtushenko.
...

Coffee and cream,
Straight stocking seam,
Two old gossips finger wag, belly sag,
Eyebrows raise. Seen better days.
...

Three times every night, and that most loud
The owl hoots high in the trees

She is breathing in the air of wood and mouse
...

1. A Potion to Perk up your Cat

Two co-ordinates of brimstone
A pinch of bum fluff
...