Darcy May Gillham
if your body is an abandoned train
tell me of a forgotten morning when your seats still held
people wearing the close scent of sleep tell me how they tried
to lean away from it and urged the day to lift its head
to draw them away from themselves did you think of them all
as your own children carried in the narrow pockets of your belly
tell me did it ever get any easier to let them go when they spilled
from your blinking doors like tears did you notice the birds
stop their song to watch from above did you find quiet
comfort in the platform’s embrace were you ever ready
to pull away I know you remember but I will not ask
of that last time or if you knew it was a last time but mother
did you know you would have to give it up one day
that your body was never a home only someplace
to keep them safe while you could
DARCY MAY GILLHAM is a Shropshire-born poet living in Manchester. Her work is forthcoming in Lemon Curd and SPOONFEED.