Wendy Lennon is a poet and writer who is working toward the publication of her first collection. Her poetry is beautiful, visceral and muscular.
Maestro
Bobbing in a blank sea, corked,
conductor waves baton frantically
flowing electrical current
bolts through
iced assembly hall; melts
deluge engulfs me
“The pigment in some
people’sskin,”
maestro gestures
to wood winded me,
“makes them heavier,
so that when theyswim,”
I, saturated by blank sea,
flap front crawl doggy
paddle drenched
“they will drown.”
Flooded by
scales
weighed up
impaled by
brass strings
submerged by rhythm
of blank sea, blank sea waves
I sink
I sink
I sink
I sink.
Ultimatum
by Wendy Lennon
He, traces brown veins
encased in mustard lino squares
draws boundary line edges.
She, sits, slots, solders
resistors into motherboard
smoke singe
globules of warmed silver
wobble, bubble, harden, hold.
I, nibble nails and dead skin
bleeding erupts, thread of skin still clings
lingering flap skin.
“So, who do you want to live with then?”
Sickle of her question mark
splices my head
decapitated
finger bled.
“Daddy!” outburst
cling to parent blind eye saw first
not final decision
derision.
Eyes curse my betrayal
screeching plea left her black skin pale.
Crow’s feet creases
frame his eyes
funnel tears down cheek
land in lino pools beneath my feet.
Blitz
Square scrubland
wastes away near garage,
stiff sway dry grasses
dented cans gather in their masses,
held to ransom
by forgotten seeds,
stifling weeds,
suffocating sugary drunk insects can’t breathe.
Butterflies hang heavy on purple buds
flick lick gold yellow laden anthers.
She slinks, slithers white web weave
damaged spider’s home
crowns her head, striding beside dusty garaged throne.
Garage haemorrhaged
throne, toys, dingy, mix tapes, fridge –
phut phut phut
phosphorous flints –
murder blankie baby bits
flame licks photo frame
trike buckles melts
doll eye lolls back
eye blink shut
eyelashes singe
flames catch, burn fringe
letters curl twist
childhood trinkets life built blitzed
chasm of ash smoulders near garage
infertile ground of their marriage
Fourteen
Nails sink in skin
pluck, unfurl her grip; desolate, desperate, grim.
Wrench, uncoil
spring from grip, defiant little girl,
attempts to keep me, I’m determined to foil.
Needs me;
need me too.
vodka, ciggies, arcade crew –
escape
run.
Daren’t turn, hear her sink to knees in defeat
I (defiantly, selfishly, self-preservingly) race down the street.
Ciggy pinch pulls my chest
fire tip burns
release clamp grip.
Couple snogging
ciggy haggling
machine lights flashing
under current swirling
threatens my unfurling
sinking under vodka’s blind grip
grab nearest boy
tongue down throat sure to soothe it
doctored coke swapped between lips,
swig, see nail imprint on skin
remind
unsoothe
remove.
Stumble on slope
elbow nudges shrub
disturb moth
flaps, disperses dusting
scurries, cowers under purple bud.
Tongue sticks to roof of mouth
hand on hip to steady myself
cloying coke ciggy breath
congeal in cupped air above
smudged lips
wince
fling head back in self disgust
smack skull on house red rust
lumped bruise
nape of neck
concealed by coily curls
always knotted, never be plaited
or straightened or curled
unless risk skin singe.
Beyond open door jumble of furniture
scattered across floor
tangled wood, splintered mirror, unrecognisable
(though within the same perimeter)
step into calmed mess
chaos flung flew during her distress
see chink of light across scatter tip toe
Yellow boxes smashed open
crushed tablets filled grooves
on bread board, where knife once methodically moved
put herself in deep
end of life sleep
not even for me
not because of me
no me,
for six voices, not one of them me.
Candy striped sheets
covered in sick
breathe tick
breathe tock.
Cries, moan
police bash door, so she’s not alone
bathroom suite (avocado gold)
clings to basin stand, strong hold
straight jacket forces flaying limbs hug body
blankets wrapped hide jacketed body
discretion in village always been shoddy.
Faked being sane
fooled white doctors again and again
although she let me see her secret pain
between the split in her heart broken brain.
Erase Mother’s Tongue
Lilt of grandma’s voice, dance,
roll hips, reggae entrance.
Pop, pop, pop of shelling peas,
thrive with ease;
rooted in Jamaican soil,
despite fifty years of Midland toil.
Mother Tongue not soiled,
community voices simmer, boil.
My mother’s tongue forced to rot.
Speak English English or shut up.
Dad corrected,
Truth infected,
dead lips, stand corrected.
Wanted to fit in,
dead ears if Truth she spoke in.
Fear of her black skin,
country folk fiercely delicate kin,
won’t twist ears to listen in.
Erased lilt
no need to tilt
too much to ask
cover voice in standard English mask
cover in disgrace
voice displaced
home misplaced
watched it fly away
whipped up by hurricane
watched it on the news one day;
tears,
blinded for years.
Dismay;
their home dead
Truth dead
coffin in her head.
Sixteen i
Yellow boxes forces
oxidised enzymes
turns injured
flesh colourless
precursor brown,
shrivelled, kicked, clutching
plastic bag that contains
me,
saved
from fire, frantic
nights, death
wrecking.
Clung against metal,
even the lady in the
fruit and veg shop will
no longer devour
me, scours now at
what I’ve become
disgusted by bites
chomped, the
mmmmmmmmm
wwwwwwwwww
of teeth marks
clomped out, linger
I walk towards –
Single Mum
Hold;
never
held.
Sunlight
Elbow refusal
to bow to rules
almost admire ability
to do whatever he may choose
until his desire
inverts
perverse
Elbow blocks blind
refuses to allow me to unwind
SLT peer in
‘Is Miss being unkind?
I’ll let you off your detention,
good boy pay attention’
I bow to him and them
schlepped through uni alone with babies at my hem
can’t give up just yet
Twists
wrists
just so
positioned carefully where the light will flow
from window to watch to my cheek
won’t admit defeat
scurry to my left a few feet
turn, twist, tilt
just so
where the sunlight flows
from my cheek to my neck to my breast
peals of laughter
at me being lightly undressed
by fifteen-year-old boy
who treats SLT like toys
Issue C3s
try to calm whipped up sea
‘Nah Miss, it weren’t me I didn’t do nuffin’
Tilt
direct hit
belly button
sunlight slices line
gut hook zipper
down to top of knicker
line, some kids snicker
unaware, I continue to deliver
spotlight on pubic area
causes class mass hysteria
victory
over me
dismiss class, admit defeat
working class white boy on data target sheet
boy like him free to roam corridors and street.
Display Board
by Wendy Lennon
Peeling borders
expose bloodied staple disorder
crack
mismatched
s t r e t c h e d, can’t reach that
gap
between
need and education
(that’s expensively free)
cost of deadening soul
children’s need can’t console
controlled
by borders
limits cause disorders
nothing fits
wherever I stick it
used to be
consistently
for hard work and care
now, it’s for tick box
wage paid
hungry bills cling to board
balancing
(health and safety illegally)
stretch roll of backing
that’ll have to do –
really, it’s a job for two –
cover with quotes, images, held by wordy glue
all complete, functional, paid, defeat
displayed deceit
captive borders stop
womb children seeing me
staple plucked from family
time cost
of teaching within corrugated perimeters
exams insufficient barometers
exams mean fuck all, soul’s downfall
forced to pin grade boundaries to wall
ambiguous measure can’t measure how tall
how high reach beyond sky.
Day three: Little Jimmy peeled border
slaughtered quotes
leaving me frustratingly provoked
until I see that little Jimmy
wasn’t trying to annoy me
he was showing me
escape route of the free, unchained, uncorrugated me.