Poetry - Lynn White

Facing Up You’re looking past her avoiding her eyes, the eyes of the woman in the front line of the protest the one who reminds you of your mother or your mother in law or your grandmother or all of them together. You don’t need to look at her, don’t need to meet the challenge of her eyes, you have the power   you have the choice to look past her. You can do anything so long as you don’t face her so long as you don’t cower you have the power. You know it   when you collect your pay check when you slither on your belly in the wet fetid gutter to collect your police pay check and take it home   to your wife or mother or grandmother ready to meet her eyes proudly if only you could open the door if only she would open the door if only she would let you in if only your key would still fit her lock if only she would still look in your eyes. But she has the power to look past you. She knows it. She knew it then. You know it now. https://www.valiantscribe.com/post/facing-up-lynn-...

  A Rose For Gaza Gaza is a garden full of roses. Stone roses. Rock roses. No petals to crush and bruise to release their fragrance. Only dust. Dust and the stench of death. No green space left. No sweet tranquility, peace or quiet. No escape. No garden of Eden here. No gateway to paradise. Rubble and rock roses. So I shall plant a rose for Gaza in my green space, in my tranquil garden. I won’t bruise it, just gently sniff its fragrance and hope that one day fragrant roses will bloom again in the garden of Gaza. What else can I do? https://www.rudderlessmarinerpoetry.com/blogpoetrysubmission/a-rose-for-gaza-by-lynn-white?fbclid=IwAR3HMm_cBgN7AoyKK114vWhiLQJ8GRskABD5QmihmamOHEHHb5tgO5-m1xA

  The Local Jimmy was almost a local, a temporary work contract   put him in the hotel bar most nights. “Try the little pub by me,” I said, “my neighbour works there, it’s really cosy, sometimes has music, but be careful legend has it you can get stoned just by standing outside and breathing!” A few days later my neighbour said, “You won’t believe it!   Under cover guy in here last night we had to take evasive action! Out here it the middle of nowhere who’d believe it full uniform as well, leather jacket, not quite tight enough jeans… Must think we’re daft not to clock him!” Jimmy was looking glum next time I saw him. “Tried your local”, he said. “Strange place, soon as I walked in the all the bar staff disappeared and none of the locals   would speak to me”. He shook his head in wonder as he dropped his change into the pocket of his leather jacket and morosely hitched up his jeans. https://ramingoblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/16/the-ramingos-porch-we-pushed-the-boat-ou...

  Cataract Before the moment when the cloud cleared   I had no idea how blue the sky was, no idea how silvery the rain though I’d felt it many times falling gently or fierce   as a cataract after a storm and I’d searched my memory and my imagination to find how they were coloured. Before the moment when the cloud cleared   from my eyes and tears spilled like cataracts, I had no clear idea. https://thedrabble.wordpress.com/

  Revelation Springtime. The time of freshness. New shoots. Rebirth. Saying goodbye   to the deadness of winter of creaking browns and greys. A time when it is difficult to discern   the living from the dead. Springtime. The time of revelation. Saying hello to old branches fallen tree trunks leaning ash late in leaf, but only so far it’s dead ends visible now showing up against the green. Springtime when the dead of winter remain and the sick old growth cannot greet the new. We only see it now. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098GMDC29?fbclid=IwAR34vVzUJ7HMDjmb101uhnsbdWrIBqKckNgTxerY2Eqo5qV1Vi-uKAscJVM

  Close Your Eyes I’ve closed my eyes just like you asked. What now? What happens next? You promised me treats when I opened them. You promised me wonders. You promised me the earth, the grass and the rivers, the sun and the sky. But if you can’t manage that the moon will do. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098GMDC29?fbclid=IwAR34vVzUJ7HMDjmb101uhnsbdWrIBqKckNgTxerY2Eqo5qV1Vi-uKAscJVM

  A Face In The Crowd Once I could be seen, was known by my face,   my dress, my demeanour recognisable in a crowd. Now I have disappeared.   Even if larger than life, even if upside down I would still be invisible. A few wrinkles is all it took to fade away to become less   than a face in the crowd. To become no one. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B098GMDC29?fbclid=IwAR34vVzUJ7HMDjmb101uhnsbdWrIBqKckNgTxerY2Eqo5qV1Vi-uKAscJVM