A poem from Siobhan Harvey from her forthcoming book.

If Befriending Ghosts

If they are the legacy left in lost code
If they are the beginning of broken soul

If they are the bitter end of love
If they are the sour taste of rejection

If they are the other side of the story
If they are the curses cast into oblivion

If they are the chemical rendering of light
If they are the sky at the point of breaking

If they are a house troubled by occupants
If they are a dwelling upon difficult territory

If they are my crying out of pain
If they are my tearing open old wounds

If they are my looking deep inside
If they are my viscera, blood and bile

I will give them oxygen and time
I will give them fuel and flame

I will raise them to ruin, to wreck
I will raise them as lovers, as pets

I will wear them up like a leash
I will wear them down to a dust

I will be their armour, their second skin
I will be their padded cell, their asylum

 

The Friday Poem is edited by Chris Tse. Submissions are welcome and will be open until the end of April. Please send your poems to chris@christse.co.nz.