Spring

Mali Delargy

I count at least five bumblebees on my golden chain.

From the ground I look at them

and the healed cracks on my neck split open again.

The strawberries on my windowsill

have pushed out a new flower, bright in its dying pot.

I stain my teeth on my second cup of tea.

The ulcer I noticed yesterday has doubled in size,

is now white. My Mam says -

Bydd rhaid i ti enwi fe cyn bo hir!

She says it is the rage of my body shutting down.

What my ulcer does not know

Is that its rage has only just begun —

My mouth a nest, it an egg soon to hatch.

Cover Photo by Mali Delargy