Waiting
Red Kites still answer,
wheel and call,
call, answer, call.
First curlew of the season
jabs at hard ground.
Crows swallow oats
cast from her hand.
Other mouths to feed,
needing more than porridge.
Hands to wash
other than her own.
All she can do is call,
stitch, mend, call, unravel
stitch, call, mend again.
Lynn Valentine lives on the Black Isle in the Scottish Highlands. Her work has been published widely, including Atrium, Northwords Now, The Blue Nib and Ink, Sweat & Tears. She is organising her first poetry collection under the mentorship of Cinnamon Press after winning a place on their Pencil mentoring competition for 2020.
new boots and pantisocracies 