My poems have been published internationally in a wide range of print and online publications as well being broadcast on radio and incorporated into poetry installations, contemporary artwork and film. I also sometimes integrate spoken word pieces into my songs. CLICK JOURNAL COVERS for more poems.

  

 

THE GAZE

 

It was an Indian summer

in Wigan, a fragrant afternoon.

Mother’s orange Frangipani sari

trailed like a peacock’s tail

in the apple blossom,

showered down in reverence

to cushion her steps.

I had been collected from school,

bottle-green and chubby

splashing through the petals

as we walked home.

 

20 years later

I developed a plume

soaked in violet and gold,

and mosaiced in confetti

cast from soft hands.

 

20 years later

I sit and stroke each feather,

the orange ones now almost red

 

all eyes in the past,

all eyes looking back,

all eyes fanned wide,

 

gazing at the girl

who blazed into a woman.

​

*First published in the Brian Dempsey Memorial Prize Anthology:

Horses of a Different Colour, June 2021 (shortlisted poem).

​

​

​

​

​