Literary Vegan

The dolls are happy in their parlour - Their painted expressions say so, Anyway. And they are loved -  Love is time, patience and placing them Carefully on crafted chairs For miniature people. Protected from the heat of the Sun, Uncertainty and playground enemies  What could they want for? Yet they always seem to be Looking beyond - A glaze in their eyes Behind the tiny teapot Like some days They want to smash predictability  And sweep it under the gowns  They didn't choose to wear. LJ Ireton 2022

I think of all the scared, suffering animals I can't reach - On roads, in trucks,  On the other side of human understanding. My small hands can't cross over Disconnection. I touch my cat's forehead with my own - As if that can channel a message  To all creatures - perhaps it can. But if it can't -  For all my helplessness, One animal will know it is loved. LJ Ireton 2022

Yes, I know that I am capable And that I could create this and that  And all the things you mention - But I like doing this. And that should be enough. LJ Ireton 2022.

I find myself in buildings Where I can't be barefoot  Among the lavender, Inside where constellations Don't reach, Among adults Who see glitter as dust To be hoovered up. I want to leave more beauty,  More reflections of the light In every place  And moment  That I find. I want to regrow the garden With elements of space And watch you wonder  As words reveal stars And electric lights, The Universe. Some people can see through walls. And some need windows They didn't know  Existed. LJ Ireton 

It is a thirsty, yellow hot morning. My thoughts are squandered, flat under the heat Struggling to grow ideas, I look up and I see the moon - A hovering hologram from the black hours. I am relieved for the reminder Of the night world - The dreams about beckoning green seas And hastening purple skies, All the magic that comes to me in the mysterious dark. If the Sun allows a ghost Moon, Midnight inspiration must also be somewhere, Lingering in the arid day. LJ Ireton 

He still sleeps directly over my heart - The way he did as a tiny cat  With fluffy stick-up fur and surprised blue eyes.  Sleek, long and amber now, with a deep, loud, purr,  His long paw rests across my chest.  'Mum' he says, By laying down his head,  Tucking his chin into my heartbeat. LJ Ireton 

Once on the page, Your creation lives. The tea party Never sleeps And someone, Somewhere Will be Pulling  Up A Chair. LJ Ireton