REUNION
 

Those old school dinners,
the greasy mince, the pitchers of weak tea
have been transmuted into beef,
red wine tonight.
The lives that run between
are beads strung out along a chain of days
which we investigate with nervous fingers.
 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 
 
BIRTHDAY PORTRAIT


Drawing again –
back to the slick of a Stanley knife,
the cedarwood incense
of sharpened pencils,
the give of a putty rubber.
 
Painting again –
gouache on a cracked plate,
mixing shade, tint, tone,
Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre,
Ultramarine.
 
Chancing a start
on stretched paper
I catch at light and shadow,
deliver with affection
imperfect work.
 
 
* Elizabeth lives in Suffolk and has run libraries for children and prisoners. She is currently a receptionist with Social Services.