My roots are deep
They have traversed the depths 1
And perforated the rock
Of a land’s end
They have woven their web
Under a starless sky
And cleaned by the wind
Drawn in front
Oh my peninsula attached
By several aged rocks
I carry a compass
To retrace my steps
A memory of the terrain
When I didn’t walk
My roots are alive
As in these arid lands
They search for the next one
When an aquifer runs dry
They force my journey
No matter where or when
My existence toll
“Under 25s card”
The sandwiches eaten on the go
The blacklisted lecture halls
All these words in the mouth
The body like a flint
For as little as you’re touched
The spark that remains
And my roots grow
An encounter and then ten
A look and then a hundred
I watch powerlessly
The road that my roots
Follow for tomorrow
My roots are resounding
And their echoes oppose
A wave - north cliff -
An airbus - pink town -
My roots are tactile
Recognise by feel
The softness of the pistil
The roughness of the concrete
The smooth skin of the girls
The claws of a kitten
My roots are olfactory
Preciously keeping
The scent of the detergent
In mum’s skirts
My foots are “family”
Perhaps not so often
Yet my heart still tingles
The same way
With “Knock knock”s at my wall
“Come sleep with me”
With gathering mulberries
With Cabins in the woods
With holidays all five together
“Sun cream, bucket and spade”
It’s to you that I drink
With the glass well lifted
To the next embrace
I wait for you soon
And my roots grow
An encounter and then ten
A look and then a hundred
I watch powerlessly
The road that my roots
Follow for tomorrow
And my roots grow
An encounter and then ten
A look and then a hundred
I watch powerlessly
The road that my roots
Follow for tomorrow
My roots
My roots
My roots
1. The deep waters