The Neglected Partner
Love the way your bones keep you upright.
your skin a raincoat.
Don’t neglect the beauty of all those organs
working ceaselessly.
Let your body and mind flirt,
have a constant honeymoon, swear vows regularly.
Praise the blemishes, the hairs that sprout
in ridiculous places.
Your body, sometimes, covets another.
Attend to its thirsts.
Enjoy your limited time in it. Strut.
Feel at home in it.
Dress it in the most outrageous colours.
Dance and swoon in its arms.
Owen Gallagher‘s recent poetry collection is: Clydebuilt published by Smokestack Books, 2019. The Sikh Snowman an illustrated (by Fiona Stewart) children’s picture book was published in November 2020 by Culture Matters and reprinted in December, 2020.