It Starts Before Birth
Your tadpole-self, displayed to strangers for a thumbs-up.
Then childhood illnesses, faithfully documented.
Late-night rows, embalmed in messaging apps.
Missteps preserved for future employers.
Lost loves, transfigured into text.
The litter of old purchases –
94K emails
unread –
your digital dust pursues you to
the finishing line and beyond:
a cul-de-sac of tributes;
a smattering of
posthumous
birthday
wishes.
Lucy Dixcart is a Kent-based writer. Her first collection, Company of Ghosts, was winner of the 2023 Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize and was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing in 2024: https://indigodreamspublishing.com/lucy-dixcart