This poem was one of 50 longlisted from 1553 competition entries and chosen by the poet Callum James to be included in the Brian Dempsey Memorial Prize anthology. It lead to the publication of my first full collection of poetry The Glass Puddle.
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.
Twenty years later
I developed a plume
soaked in violet and gold,
and mosaiced in confetti
cast from soft hands.
Twenty 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.
*Also published in The Cannon's Mouth, 2021

