Singing Lessons for Beginners
Necessity, that scold’s bridle, held her humble and mean,
So that she no longer spoke, just looked –
Her world reduced to a search for special offers,
Fluorescent beacons that steered her far from
Shelves profligate in their packaging.
Products cheapened by mismarking
Beat the solemn bounds of her fiefdom:
Broken baguettes, economy tubs of cooking margarine,
And a squabble of small change.
At night she dreamed of soft bread,
Burdened to the brim with baptismal butter,
Dripping with sybaritic saltiness,
Of moist fingers to be licked and sucked.
Her silent tongue tingled
With the marvel of the moment
As she strode across the heavens
And sang in sisterhood with the stars.
And she awoke and was singing still,
Her heart warmed with rebel fire,
As all marvelled at the great change in her.
Clare Morris is a performance poet, writer and reviewer, based in Devon, UK. Her most recent collection is Devon Maid Walking (Jawbone Collective, 2023 https://www.wessex.media/