Poems

by Laura Cleary

Agadir Atlantic

Climbs steep

Slow

Stroked inland by winds

That wilt along shore

In this heat

Through this layer of

Sugared anise

Onto come-hither sands

Spent

Bittersweet

Negatives

Wait, remember—

I found them before,

All business and bleach

Disembowelling a drawer

In our kitchen

My kitchen

Numb-kneed and weeping

I found them

Perfect, untouched

By the battery corpses,

Or allen keys jangling

Their widowers’ song

They were

Perfect, untouched

The raw chicken pocks,

First penalty shots

New adult teeth in

Juvenile mouths

In the dark

In that drawer

In the mess that they left

Laura Cleary (28) is a poet and writer (among other things) living in Dublin. Her poetry has appeared in can can, Outburst, The Poetry Bus, bare hands poetry and Subterranean Blue Poetry. She was a featured poet in the 2013 Ash Wednesday series in Ranelagh, Dublin and also received first prize in the inaugural Heart in Mouth competition for her performance of her poem “Note to a Mislaid Friend”.  Her first play “And You Expect Me To..?” was featured as part of 10 Days in Dublin 2013 and Shore Writers’ Festival 2013.

She currently lives in Dublin with her partner Colm and an extensive nail polish collection.