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Gol McAdam lives in Yorkshire and Kent. She has a PhD in Gender Studies and an MA in Creative Writing. Her poems have appeared in a range of journals and anthologies. Other writings include academic texts, fiction and radio drama.
Though robbed of her spit and polish
the room remains much as she left it.
Her purple housecoat hangs on the door
its folds faded to lilac by sunlight.
The bedside lamp shades a closed book,
an old till receipt marking her page.
The counterpane, lovingly spread, stays
unruffled by the grief of her sleeping.
The wardrobe, closed and full, rises;
a bastion of forgotten fashions.
Shrouded by dust, the dressing table
still spells out her moments –
a trinket box hosting her cameo brooch
and a long since broken string of pearls
a pomander slow to evaporate
tinting the air with her perfume
a silver brush camouflaging
gun-metal hairs in its yellowing bristle –
the misty bloom on the triptych mirrors
waiting for the wayward finger to draw
an arrow-pierced heart of fidelity.
A lone cobweb floats and touches
soft against the cold window pane.
A dead wasp decays on the sill.
Poem published: 2nd Shelagh Nugent Poetry Awards Anthology, Indigo Dreams Press (2007).
Copyright© of all poems featured on this site remains with the poet
