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The Wigtown Poetry Competition
Second Prize £1000
Pride - Judy Brown
Pride We’re like a lion and a lioness,
you said. And over time we got furrier;
our pear-drop tufted tails
shifted, rose and intertwined
like two snakes
charming each other.
We could take days
to digest a meal
or just to untangle our Gordian tongues.
We hunted together,
you my choreographer.
I answered you with myself,
bulleting from flexed hind legs.
You could see the antelopes
thinking: It’s not fair.
We grumbled to ourselves: predators gamble –
spend glycogen, invest torn muscle
in a single gorgeous pounce.
But we knew as well as anyone:
Up can go down as well as up.
After it ended we walked away
smooth-skinned and alone.
Bees clustered in our cast hides.
Out of our sweetness came forth insects,
a swarm. And where our hearts
had been, a clot of fused bees
beat like black glass.
Judy Brown
Copyright
The copyright of each poem remains with the author. The authors of the winning poems grant the Wigtown Book Town Company the right to use the poems in publicity material for one year from 3rd April 2006, and the Sunday Herald the right to publish them for one year from 3rd April 2006.
In association with the Scottish Poetry Library
and the Sunday Herald
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