Poem: Radiators

Radiators

Just as winter was beginning to appear –

crisping up the lawns and silvering the thickets

I heard the asthmatic wheeze from the airing cupboard;

a splutter like sea water, and then nothing

but sharp cracks as the radiators suddenly cooled;

warmth dropping, like an expired star, from the ceiling

until it was gone, and the house felt emptier and bigger.

In the tea-bleached bedroom light,

we huddled clothed beneath the duvet, stealing

each other’s heat. He whispered something about dinner;

his words like lavender and wheat germ at the nape of my neck,

and I wanted to feel more of them –

soft consonants and long vowels as my world was reduced

to a bed-sized island, and I drifted somewhere warmer. 

Thank you for reading,

Lara