HOW THEY MADE THE BETTER WORLD

for AH, RB, CF, JW, NF, TH

Anna plucked the sunshine from the dusk
Rachel raised the catflap to let the mice out
Cheryl fashioned time from the silvered workings of a watch
Jenny printed money on torn copies of The Advertiser
Nuala distilled love from a column of lonely-hearts
Tracy drew speech from stones

Tracy drew speech from stones
Anna plucked the sunshine from the dusk
Nuala distilled love from a column of lonely-hearts
Rachel raised the catflap to let the mice out
Cheryl fashioned time from the silvered workings of a watch
Jenny printed money on torn copies of The Advertiser

THE NEW PLACE

for TH

The new place is still an unpacked pile
of boxes, crockery lying in wait
wrapped in newspaper, a brown file
of tenancy agreements and contracts
that are signed and dated. The white
walls are uncluttered by jam-sticky hands
or crayons that count the kids' heights
in months, January — March — December.
The year opens like a front door
to a garden of blossoming flowers,
the roses uncurling like cats,
blown dandelion clocks exploding the air,
filling the bedrooms with fairies.
Nell, bouncing on bedsprings, captures a wish.