BROWSE Columns
✕
.jpg)
The door closes on the day.
From an open window
the air issues a warning,
but closure brings a sense of rest.
This house may feel at peace.
Outside there is an eager crowd
anticipating a journey.
They will not go far.
Inside there is no-one
beyond the eyes of her mind.
There is flesh on her face
beneath the silk that shields her
from the fire in the sky
and the ice that burns.
Nature is always there.
Some sounds remain unseen.
Others are visible in darkness.
Through the curtains a hint of light
that is the midnight watchword
never known to be silent.
Geoffrey Heptonstall’s fifth collection of poetry, What We Do Well, is soon to be published by Cyberwit. A Whispering, was published by Cyberwit June 2023. His first collection, The Rites of Paradise, received critical acclaim when first published in 2020. Sappho’s Moon and The Wicken Bird followed. A novel, Heaven’s Invention, was published by Black Wolf in 2016. The Queen of Alsatia, a novella, was published in Pennsylvania Literary Journal in 2023. A number of plays and monologues have been staged, broadcast and/or published. He is also a prolific short fiction writer, essayist and reviewer. He lives in Cambridge, England.
