Poppies

Poppies

        bought from a street stall

        one late winter

        lunch hour

        their closed

        bowed buds

        the heads of sleeping birds

        here in this warm parlour

        afternoon

        insists on wakefulness

        the merest long-lidded

        opening eye

        of fire

        by morning the crystal vase

        an unfolding of crinkled wings

        tissue paper thin

        a concertina of colour

        a confetti of bright flight

        flowers bumping at the glass.

These poems are from my new collection IN THE APRICOT DARKNESS (view the cover and contents below in my recent posts). They are now being published individually, daily under 'recent posts' on my blog and will be available shortly as an eBook that can be read online or downloaded for free.