We are very pleased to announce that Jane Burn’s Whatever shall I do with this time to myself? is the voters’ choice for the IS&T Pick of the Month for June. Jane has asked that her prize be donated to Shelter.
Whatever shall I do with this time to myself?
There is too much and too little choice all at once
So I content myself with ferreting the remains
of the laundry basket. So many socks! I have turned
the rogue ones outside out, mud sprinkling, dried
from when you came in wet, hauled the clinging
concertinas from your feet, leaving them where
they fell. I smooth the washed ones on radiators,
pinch out the heels blocked in with primary colours,
imagine your toes, like chewy gumballs. Then I go
and bake, lining my tins, so when you return
there will be sweetness for your mouth.
………………….
Voters’ comments included:
This poem will resonate with everyone who’s acquainted with the sock goblins.
Wonderfully vivid balance of images and a very original angle, sorting those socks is a seemingly everyday action but the whole poem is full of restrained emotion which makes it even more powerful.
Its simply put but captures something so familiar -such a gentle evocation of motherhood
It is sweet and true and the world is full of socks.
I love the precision and tenderness with which she lifts a moment that could hardly be more ‘ordinary’ in its objective content.
Jane is an original, quirky, deep and splendid voice in the poetry scene.
So eloquent about the magic of everyday things. The final couplet is brimming with love.