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.