first published in Seam, 19, August 2003

in collection A Stash of Gin, 2007,

Mainsail Press, ISBN 9780955302015

                         Tolerance

                                         In its own way, dazzling.

Jagged leaves,

                                         prickly as a thistle,

a brood of buds,

                                         one yellow bloom.

I cannot sever it,

                                         so healthy, so high

above the cultivars.

                                         My mother walks down the path:

silently I’m needling her to notice.

                                         She doesn’t.

Either she needs new glasses

                                         or has lost the urge to fight.

Hoverflies are simmering

                                          like shame.

Emily Dening

e-mail Emily

poetry favourites:
 Joy of Six

nth position

Raw Light
(Jane Holland)

Reginald Shepherd

Eyewear (Todd Swift)

and in the shop ...
collection:
"A Stash of Gin", Mainsail Press

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