“Love made of ash
Trays and dyed greys
Words cutting haze
Of smoke

Genuinely faked
Like it was better
False nails
Lashes

Only hands know truth
Eyes speak it
Ears pierced of sounds cradling
Your soul

Benson & Hedges numb
Your mind from
Another time

Clocks walled
Two to a room
Faces of faded memory

Discuss, shot-put and javelin
Champion
Captain
Medals I count nine

Home bargained soup tins
Pension of gratitude
Offering buskers
Your version of solitude

Charity-shopped coat and hat
Matched
Unapologetically imposed

White people stare
Adorned
In xenophobic admiration

Daughter of the New Year
Stubborn as a goat
Still breathing”