photo from pixabay
In the cool of this hottest day Another day closes its sunset eye. At least it watched me writing. How do I write joy? Peg phrases on pages like washing in the sun. Tonight, I will wear party black, celebrate the death of past ordeals. Turn over any heart. Count nicks, scars. Admire the flinty shine. The weight. We hew more truth with our pieces than wreckers ever wreak in breaking. Blackbird threads notes through this frayed evening’s quilt, stitches the day together. In the cool of the close of this hottest day, I sense my life begin. On a scale of one to ten The questionnaire slips to the floor. A gust from the window spins it and years ago my son’s boat drifts on the town pond more and more out of reach. A tear rolls down my cheek. Is this me now, where questions pared of all sensitivity rate me formally beyond normality on a scale of one to ten? My inner song replies, ‘Just go, those questions aren’t for you, you’re coming through. You’ve had a bad case of bad, bad husband but you’re not sinking. Life shines in you, clinks round and light in your fingers, new minted. Savour it with fresh-baked rolls floured, mallow-soft, plump. Feel it slobber you like a month-old puppy climbing up your sleeves to suck your ears. Be bold. Let new days laugh away old fears. You’re smiling, look, first time in years air rushes into you deep. Don’t think, don’t waste this precious, brief today, don’t even pray, just let your hands fall open.’ Bio: Rosie Johnston’s fourth pamphlet of micro-poems Six-Count Jive (Lapwing Publications, 2019) describes her recovery from CPTSD into a world of natural beauty and happiness. Recent anthologies include Fevers of the Mind 5: Overcome (2021), Her Other Language (Arlen House, 2020), Places of Poetry (OneWorld, 2020) and American Writers Review 2021: Turmoil and Recovery. Rosie lives by the sea in Kent. rosiejohnstonwrites.com A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Rosie Johnston 3 Poems by Rosie Johnston : “Blood Stains on the Stones” “Other-Mother” & an extract from “Six-Count Jive”
Fevers of the Mind 
2 comments