Wild Years
And so give me wild summers.
Give me long, soft nights
and give me streets that snake, and steal, and grow dark.
And so give me campfire lungs.
Give me hot skin
and give me well-read books that belch, and spit, and grow light.
And so give me gentle kisses.
Give me tight jam-jar lids
and give me hand-drawn maps that leaf, and lose, and find nothing.
And so give me bloody knees.
Give me reading glasses
and give me late dinners that cool, and feed, and find bellies.
And so give me home
and give me here
and give me fruit, and forests, and fields.
And give me hope.
And give me hands
and give me you, and youth, and years.
Alex Vellis is a Greek-British poet, producer, and playwright from Canterbury, Kent. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Kent and has published five books through Whisky & Beards Publishing.