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A Garden Pond by Sue Finch


I had never seen so many shades of darkness.

Difficult to distinguish 

dark, dark brown from burnished black. 

I was happy there 

staring.


My reflection stared back. 

Rippled.

I wanted to kiss it.


I already knew there were countless shades of green –

pure lime green, 

dark army green, 

the endless mixing in of yellow 

to invent more and more. 


A snail with an algaed shell moved 

as if in outer space. 

I couldn’t grip it,

but I was so close. 

Then I was right in there 


amongst bouncy pond weed,  

straggly ribbons

and those shades of black in close-up.

Some were just dark browns 

but, oh the depth. 

So cold amongst the stale green smell,

but happy.


They shouldn’t have ripped me from it

just to wrap me in a stranger’s dog blanket.

Rough wool held me silent

all the way home.

The air had chilled me to the bone

grey dog hairs stuck to my lips.


---

Sue Finch’s debut collection, ‘Magnifying Glass’, was published in 2020. She loves the coast and the scent of ice-cream freezers. You can often find her on Twitter @soopoftheday.

Comments

  1. Susan22 May 2022 at 13:52

    Fabulous poem. I love ponds and staring into them. They allow the mind to wander, or not. I love the description of the shades of green and more. Excellent!

    ReplyDelete

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