This is a double act, starting with a short prose poem Angel by IS&T editor Charles Christian and followed by Unravelling, a response written by East Anglian poet Beverly Ellis. There is also a soundfile containing a recording of these two poems being read.
Angel of the morning
Later that morning she brought me satsumas and a mug of sweet green tea that smelled of toasted rice. The slogan on her mug read I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered while the one on mine said I am not a number, I am a free man. She asked me when we’d meet again and I replied “soon”. At the time I said it, I meant it. But we never did make that second date. I am a free man and I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Unravelling
Stuffing the other arm down the sleeve of his jacket,
he brushes the back of his hand slowly
across my cheek,
kisses me:
once,
twice,
leans his forehead against mine
for several seconds.
I’ll call you, he says,
lips resting on my eyelid.
Then he’s standing in the doorway,
one shoelace trailing…
