She has one shoe missing
dress dirty
from climbing the Jacaranda
and building dens, which she defends
with a long stick
and blazing tongue.
I bought her in Paris
at the market at Saint-Ouen
christened her Lucinda.
Her skin
was perfected in the kiln
her body embalmed with straw.
I lay her to sleep
in a wooden box
black eyes open.
Carolyn Waudby lives in Sheffield in the north of England,U.K. She is a journalist and lecturer as well as a poet. Carolyn specialises in feature writing with an emphasis on travel, history and folklore – a result of being married to an expert on myth, legend. She has exhibited and performed with photographers, artists and dancers. Her hardest job was asa student selling ice-creams, doughnuts and bottled drinks on the beach in Nice, France. Compensation for the daily trudge up and down the sands and meagre pay was a great tan. https://www.carolynwaudby.com
Art: When Time Bends in Autumn, photograph, 2018
Artist Statement: This snapshot turned out surprisingly psychedelic, and while some aspects of the image are sharp and in-focus, most is not. In similar vein, Waudby’s poem unfurls in precise and vivid waves of mystery.