first published in Poetry Nottingham International Vol. 52 No. 1;

in collection, Salt, (September 2008 ), Poetry Can,
ISBN 978-09539234-3-4

Hours Afterwards

bowel of the garlic

breaks

from its papery

sheath

priming a pink clove

the little

oily horn

peeling free

reeking -

a root pearl veined

with a sinewy

green, its pulp

cruelly pungent

staining

at a touch.

More than one

and we are steeped

sanguine

the smell

on our fingers

hours afterwards.

Denise McSheehy

last update:

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