February 2024.

Full poem:

“humming dreamily, her body felt floaty, unpresent with the moment. her thoughts turned towards home. To the walled garden, she thought.

‘Don’t you remember?’

‘Don’t think I’ve forgotten’

‘I know who you really are’ ‘I know who you really are’

‘…My Fairy…My Sister…My Girl…My Daughter…My Emma…You are mine.’

‘What? Too much?’

she searched her memory,

the young girl, whose life had been defined by her bouts of backing down, her snipped tongue, her obedience, the lack of her…

…finally had to pull herself away.

left within her own capable hands,

‘What now?’