Sheena Blackhall Poems

(for Dr. J.D.Gomersall, Centre for Psychotherapeutic Research, Sheffield)

The morning sun has risen oer the hill
And dawn is golden, pale as sifted wheat
...

The cello slits on her nose release a melodious moo.
Her copper pelt is soft as a maidenhair.
Spittle sits in the silky folds of her mouth,
Like seeds of milky dew.
...

It warms the cockles of the heart,
Morecambe Bay. Kiss me Quick
The summer bus- trip- tourist paradise.
...

The Irish Soldier
Edward Marshall is my name
Ireland is my nation
Leeds is my dwelling place
...

After the marquee dance I crossed a field of frosty turnips
My stilettos cobbling on the rutted furrows

The taste of a farm boy's kiss
...

It's not just any old hill walk
You can't turn up in a pair of old boots,
A rain coat and sun glasses
...

Nostradamus (1503-66)is famous for his cryptic prophesies that have supposedly forecast major world events. He also had expertise as a pharmacist and a jam-maker. His most notorious formulation is a "love jam" that was based on mandrake fruits and other reputed aphrodisiacs. The recipe can be found in his 1555 ‘Treatise on cosmetics and jams'.

Here is a magic potion of great power
Go dawn-pick mandrake apples if you will
...

Fatima thrust her breasts out, shoulders back
Her chin's held high, hand on her hip
She could be a Queen of the Nile
The Niger, the Zambesi
...

Birch is for new beginnings.
Birch is the nursery tree
Birch celebrates sweet Beltane
Source of fertility
...

Brown madder, burnt umber, bronze, sienna
Flake white hue, flesh tint, French ultramarine
Manganese blue, cobalt violet, magenta
Davy's grey, lamp black and rich olive green
...