Placenta
Laid flat on the floorboards
it’s an autumn tree crown
with boughs rising skyward
from a severed trunk.
It’s a glistening viscus
grown by mother and daughter,
brought home in a carrier bag,
preserved in the freezer,
planted out in spring,
pulsing through the earth.
Hélène Demetriades has been published in magazines and anthologies, including Obsessed with Pipework, Reach Poetry, Envoi, Ink Sweat and Tears, Snakeskin, Eunoia, Clear Poetry, Allegro. She’s been highly commended in the Marsden Poetry Village Competition, and long listed in the Beverley Literary Prize.