Beginning The End by Pauline May

Today we bring you a haunting pantoum by Pauline May.

Pauline lives in Sunderland with her husband, son and cat. She has worked extensively in education and across child protection, special educational needs and drama in education. She enjoys performing at spoken word events across the north east. She has had poems published in The Writers Cafe, YorkMix magazine, Not Your Mother’s Breast Milk and Panning For Poems. In June, The Blue Nib is publishing five of her poems. In The York Literature Poetry Competition she was commended in 2016 and shortlisted this year. She was also shortlisted for the Fresher’s Prize this year.

BEGINNING THE END 1200593Common_Blackbird_20101121_Herne_Bay_NZ_3

Passive in this day of echoes,
shadows are miming plays on walls.
Your drip-dry love breathes its death throes.
Your swan-song looks for its applause.

Shadows are miming plays. On the wall
the blackbird sings its liquid gold.
It’s swan-song looks for our applause.
You shake your head. You see the road.

The blackbird sings pure liquid gold
turning our backyard silver, cold.
You shake your head and view your road
ahead, beyond this dumbshow’s flaws.

The backyard now turns silver-cold.
You evaluate departure
ahead. This dumbshow’s all played out,
it’s tangled habits left undone.

Evaluated; departure
signals shifting new beginnings
where tangled habits are unspun
and twirled within a blackbird’s song.

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