Literary Vegan

Have you ever seen night, Where the Sun should be? Like the depths were the sky And the day a spirit fleeing Beyond reach -  Leaving only mystery Shivering in our bones With the unknowing cold. There are no stars That make a beautiful dark - It is an unnatural pause That roots our feet in question - Not just fear Of the sudden shadows over the hills And under our skin. We glance at each other, Beneath our headscarves - And we all feel it - A fall, Soul-deep sleeping, A dawn.  LJ Ireton 2024 

In the inhale of the earth, The silence of the birds, The watching for the white Sun -  Dry words are breathing. When the wind has torn the forests, But the moorhens deem it safe To walk on dirty water - Write of their returning. When the tree arms unbend And creatures crawl curious, Unsinging, There is the poem,  The tin grey cloud in its palm - Eyes towards its absence.  C. LJ Ireton 2024 

As blossom makes beautiful the falling, So does a poem belong to the sky - To tell of it, to tell how You kissed my words with lemon pink roses Then lifted them to life. C. LJ Ireton 2024 

I run through the mud in a town satin dress, Pierced now with cat claws and hawthorn, Cold moor winds. At the fences I reflect on the unknown ground with the same sound of birds - I could go to the ends of the earth And a beautiful familiar Would still find me there. I pick up my skirts To save them from more scratches And curtsy to the souls In the grass -  Distant creatures have kept me close to myself, A sheep's nose snuffle and look from feline eyes - Mine, the things I love -  Always mine.  C. LJ Ireton 2024