Friday 1 April 2016

NaPoWriMo: Extract from 'Small Hands'

(...) In the back bedroom is a box
China cracked and glued back together,
Where my milk teeth sour.

I held them in small hands,
quickly too big
and replaced the weight of them
with Fairytales.

I’d never tell you
Just pull on loose teeth
And find magic in the copper of blood
The barbed wire edge 

We found you
In the back bedroom
Plaiting the hair of Barbie dolls
When mine was knot and hairspray backcomb
Tucking the whisper of
Childhood into bed at tea time

As the door slammed behind me 
Guilt rose in a heartburn chest
Where the dance floor turned back to kitchen tiles
You said that ironing
Was a way of remembering

And smile when you found opals in my mouth that I’d mistaken for teeth.

~ Natasha Borton


1 comment:

  1. Lovely and also visceral. The coppery taste of blood is making me shiver (in a good way).

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