Elephantine
carved from the tusk of my grandmother
I am learning how to remember
we follow the old paths
traced through the bush that belongs
and yet does not belong to us
where we are born is
where we pass through
if I could, I would pull down the moon for you
drag it to earth to light up your way
how lovely you are, my one girl
how memory grows heavy with us
every month a new blooming
one day perhaps you too will swell
and a child will tumble from the sky of you
Alice Huntley is an estuary girl, born by the Humber and living by the Thames. She writes & reads with local poetry groups in Richmond and Twickenham. Her work deals with memory and the body and has appeared in Mslexia and Waxed Lemon.