What is Written
One among many,
red leaf
that I troubled
to pick from the ground
in the walled garden
of Strokestown Park.
To the hotel
in Carrick I carried it
to lodge in between
the middle pages
of Constance Markievicz
in whose revolutionary life
I'd hope to find
distraction.
It was day nine
and the young man, Janusz,
was an absence none
could fathom.
Who knows
what attracts us?
Why we keep searching
when logic
tells us nothing
of the living will be found.
Red leaf,
I don't even know your name.
It was the end
of autumn. Most things
that were destined
to fall had already fallen.
Maggie Sawkins is the author of five poetry collections: Charcot’s Pet, The Zig Zag Woman, Zones of Avoidance (winner of the 2013 Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry), Many Skies Have Fallen and, most recently, The House Where Courage Lives (Waterloo Press). She lives in an old station master’s house on the Isle of Wight and delivers writing projects in community settings for people from all walks of life. You can find her here: www.hookedonwords.me
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