What was it like in the War, Granda?
I became desert, death, murderer, a kind
of killing machine. I washed my clothes in oil.
I bartered my knife for water. I used my gun.
I saw friends die over an officer’s stupidity.
I was made to polish boots while the winds
threw what was left of God in my face.
I fed myself to the war piece by piece.
I carried men, I thought there was nothing left.
Oh, it’s too long ago.
I came back to this, to you.
Let’s visit the tree where the old witch lives.
Let’s talk to the piglets behind their hedge of thorns.
I’ll show you the place where the blackbirds nest.
We’ll rescue a worm from the puddled path.
I’ll feed you aniseed and wisdom.
We will leave the bluebells be.
Lynn Valentine’s debut poetry collection, Life’s Stink and Honey, was published by Cinnamon Press in 2022 after winning their literature award. Her Scots language pamphlet, A Glimmer o Stars, was published by Hedgehog Poetry in 2021. You can find her on Twitter @dizzylynn