Inside

Thumping against the wall
I think it’s a washing machine
the sound of life going on
outside of the body,

the sound of a washing machine
or maybe —
you couldn’t call it lovemaking —
Kate Bush in the background:
washing machine

jumping jacks?
Life is going on
above the shopfronts
in the empty roads
between the student nurses
and the applause.

The Icelandic Forestry Service
encourages us to hug trees when
we can’t hug each other
and describes the feeling of warmth moving
from your toes to your knees to your stomach.

Picture someone you have difficulty with and wish them well.

England says close down the parks cos people go there
close down the roads cos people go there —
are they bringing in the army
to make sure
you only exist inside your body
and only you exist inside your body,

thumping against the wall —
the blood moving from your heart to your knuckles
from your heart to your forehead
the sound of life going on
outside.

 

By Adrienne Elliott-Wilkinson (L3)

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