Cemetery
A pity the door is locked. You have to climb in over the fence, which is low in places.
A large cemetery, matzevot crushed by falling trees – Tripadvisor review
I step through missing bricks.
Green graves cluster
on a rise under a yew.
Crows argue, cars hush by,
that dog finally stops barking.
Only the clouds move.
There is so much space in here
marked out,
empty under fallen leaves.
Abandoned headstones lean,
names slurring.
My foot finds a hole in the turf.
I walk back to town
through the Christian cemetery.
It has an open shop
selling lanterns, saints and artificial flowers.
A cyclist parks up, places a wreath,
begins to sweep.
I turn and start to walk the avenues.
Up close in this cemetery,
enamel miniatures smile at me,
their names picked out in gold.
Rachel Lewis‘s first pamphlet on eating disorder recovery was published by Wordsmith HQ. She is currently writing a second collection exploring her family’s links to the Belfast Jewish community, and running a newsletter on the work of poetry @rachel_lewis_poet.