Charlotte Shevchenko Knight

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everything not saved will be lost

i have learnt to cope
with the distance dedushka

i am digitally placated      you post 
a selfie in which you hold up a carp 

& i press my finger to the fish
its scales pixellated & wet 

sweating as though nervous 
of the happy grandfather brandishing 

a smile like a nuclear button   or perhaps 
by the pressure of my own index

i hold down on the fish until i’m given 
the option to save it   transferring 

its silver body & open gills 
to an album titled “dedushka fishing”

in which all ukrainian fish live 
in which you live too

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CHARLOTTE SHEVCHENKO KNIGHT is a British-Ukrainian poet who has recently obtained a Masters at Goldsmiths College. She is a New Poets Prize winner and was commended in the National Poetry Competition. Her pamphlet Ways of Healing is forthcoming with the Poetry Business in 2022.