before whisky after jazz
– Poems by Siobhan Tebbs –
Smooth Horseback and Plenty
after the toe-teasing Whisky whipping
morning Jazz beach-kissing i wanted us to shift
to the centre of our sun i found a
black
hole
none of her ropes could hold it together skirts
hitched the jump still too risky i had tramped bright
rainbow-coloured paths
stamping
boxes
down flat around my ankles they were handy
only as landmarks now when i loved another
she could not see why i could not
just
not
while bales of laughter joyed me whole
before whisky after jazz in fact around dawn
raucous and safely wrapped under
her
name
fences bordered her field i could be in that
box or another box but not have my rainbow-
paths not stamp away
card-
board
stomach in knots i harvested the eye-sparkle
for a minute then i walked away she had
told me how i should
love it was not by surfing a dry-stone wall
watching every single sparrow
rejoicing in each for its own streaks and song
her eyes followed me over the threshold i
crossed it so she filed me away i am
reaped i do not lie fallow
she labelled me ‘heartbreak’
it is only a scarecrow in her
box i escaped
long ago look at me
dancing on haystacks
breathing deep down in my
indigo-violet
body
of smooth
horseback and plenty
Background
Background could fill our days
Intermittent, faltering chaff
Like the stereo grumbling from a top-floor window
Someone yelling, that last resort of ‘love’
Downstairs, a drilling that could trip the fuse box
The click clack of overpowered knitting in hipster-homes
Somewhere, a missile squealing through the sky
The crack of a volatile diplomatic accord
Magic, the intangible, the electromagnetic
Agnosticism, rich as the greyest of greys.
Bracelets
Bracelets seem as though we had been making them:
Smothering wire and tiny stones, altering outcomes,
Batting away flies. Safety lies in such focus. Twisting
Transience into silent braids; naming every child;
Blackmailing beaded misfits into shape. We’ll die
Surburbanites, tied to inborn courtship of our trades.
About the Author – Siobhan Tebbs
Siobhan Tebbs is a poet, spoken word artist and fiction writer living in Barcelona and originally from Cheshire, UK. Her work has been published in The Fem lit magazine and featured on WordPress Discover. Her blog is at http://siobhantebbs.wordpress.com.
Photo credit: Daria Petrillo
Did you like these poems by Siobhan Tebbs? Read more poetry, like “The poem was still pulsing…” and “We’re here, now.”
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