Into L’Orangerie
I’m not ready to yield to the notion of garden
chalky-soft and muted, a green mat so bright
in the sun it silvers, jewels scribble flowers
life-size, bold, holding the year’s nectar
but on dark days when river-wind over gravel
bites at my heels, chases me
I can see how it might work as I step unnoticed
over the brass rail and slip into the walls.
At pond’s edge, my feet take root, my arms
branch and break into leaf, my fingertips
weep into the water. Purples and blues
are my last colours, air rushes my bark
and at sunset, I fire.
Kate Noakes‘ fifth collection is Tattoo on Crow Street (Parthian, 2015). Her website (boomslangpoetry.blogspot.com) is archived by the National Library of Wales. She was elected to the Welsh Academy in 2011. She lives between Paris and London.