Poem

Kate Broadhurst (Bannatyne)

Dartington Years 1975 -1982

The Memory Box

By Kate Broadhurst (Bannatyne)

It was in this room

he rolled the orb across my desk

like a small sun

smiled and said

describe for me this orange.

From these porous walls

I learned to drink flowers

sing spirals of colour

follow a sonnet

and read every curve of the river.

In this rare place

I traced the outline of his face

and learned how to see

between the lines

with my eyes half-closed.

Deep in this copse

I learned to be bold

and climbed half-way up

to scar my heart

into big beech bark.

In here I was taught

to diminish the seventh

that three can recur

and first asked the question

but how do you know?

It was in this box cupboard

under these stairs

I learned to drink apples

and feel for his lips

soft in the dark.