I got up reaally early today to be interviewed live on BBC Three Counties radio by the lovely Kady Braine. She asked about my writing process before I read out a poem, 'transient', which was runner up in this year's Fenland Poet Laureate Awards.
I was a little nervous as it was live radio, but thankfully things went smoothly!
Here's the poem - it's from the perspective of my 170+ year old house.
transient by Pen Avey
My life begins on meadow, drained from salt bog long ago.
Clay laid first to hold me fast, then wooden joists
hoisted high by flat-capped men, encasing bones in Battenberg brick.
A smiling door, vermillion to match my step,
complementary bright brass fixings, all topped off
with terracotta tiles and a chimney pot.
The first two come.
He works black Fenland earth through windswept days,
she turns a handle; runs up floral curtains.
I shut my glassy eyes a while to owl hoots and cat fights.
Her belly swells four times –
Three succumb to sickness, yet one remains.
The whirlwind boy climbs an apple tree Father planted out back.
Slips and lands in Mother's arms –
his laughter drifts through summer nights.
He ages well but marries not;
lives out his dotage in one stark room,
hunted by a tallow moon.
Iron railings flake with rust.
Floral curtains rag to dust.
Greasy soot belches from my oak-mantled hearth.
Above, a sweep’s brush pushes up to sky –
darkened, ominous as
metal birds drone by.
A single lady, sharp, refined
adopts me. Spends her waking time
stripping walls and planting pansies.
I shine with pride when dawdling strangers
stop to admire my smart facade.
A blackbird sang the night she passed.
My newest family dwells snug within.
I love them much as they love me –
Affection edged in melancholy.
Knowing they’ll move on, one way or another
and leave me bare. Pining for
a transient lover.
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