written and posted by members of Lancashire Dead Good Poets' Society

Thursday 6 February 2014

Poem: Radiators

06:30:00 Posted by Lara Clayton , , , , , 3 comments

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