English Poems From The Dall Poem by Sheena Blackhall

What is a Wife?

So what is a wife?
What nuances come into play?
Is a wife a meal-maker, a sheetwasher?
A sex worker lacking a fee?
A counsellor, all for free?

What is a wife?
She needs a flexible identity
If she's to repay the debt
To the world, under the theory
Of Original Sin
She's always the scapegoat
Now till infinity


Gerry Loose
For Gerry was an honourable man
Nothing he did was mean or underhand
He was a global citizen, a world nomad
Explored the ways of many a far-flung land

Playwight, poet, dramatist and writer
Many deer paths led up to his door
Gardener, agriculturist, meditator,
A vagabond voice, new portals he'd explore

He delved into contemporary fault lines
He empathized with raven, hare, gained guidance
Living through solitary night exposures
Listening to the gaping mouth of silence

Mandalas in the sand? Printed on water?
Never. His words were thoughtful and inspired
An old dog with a bone, he was tenacious
A champion of Nature and the wild


The Dieter
He even investigated his stools
To ensure that he kept his turnover meagre

Survived on leftovers
Not enough to feed a chuffing fairy

He tried every different diet
Earl Grey and fresh air
Strategic interventions
Colonic irrigation
Liposuction

When he died,
His ash barely filled a tea caddy
At the least the strain of living
Was finally done to a turn


The Extraterrestrial
Its condition was off the scale, skin like rotten cereal
Once clearance was given to scutinize the creature
Even though it was clearly dead
There were things to organize

Would the thing be placed in a museum?
We were amazed its space ship
Had survived the pounding
On entering Earth's atmosphere

Why choose Earth?
What was the relevance of its destination?
Did it just like the colours of blue and green?

Did it come to forge an alliance?
Or was it a simple suicide
An end to an intergalactic dance?


The Trainee Therapist
For reasons of economy
The trainee therapist gave cut price rates
To the credulous

Formally, they lay on the couch
While he manufactured interpretations
Of their nightmares

In his defence, most really wanted
Someone to listen to them, no holds barred