She sits, holding on to memories,

Looking out at the world

From behind her shield of glass.

A tree, free from its summer dress,

Empty branches, heavy against the sky.

The air, still and frosted

Suspending puppet birds.

The ground holding on to

The last of the dew,

Nature’s bed, carrying reddening leaves.

She raises her hand

To the cold window,

Her long, thin fingers

Hiding her father’s grave,

Now covered with flowers

Holding on to their last

Lease of life.

By Kerry Glover, age 17, who will receive a book of collected poetry. Submitted by Liz Hinkley of Newtown High School, Powys, who receives the BPTeacher’s Poetry Resource file, published and donated by the Poetry Society. For Poetry Society events, ring 071-240 4810. Next term teachers will receive the Poetry Society’s teachers’ newsletter, not the resources file as stated last week. The newsletter is a quarterly bulletin which includes features on innovative approaches to poetry in the classroom as well as news on the latest resources, events and issues.

My interest in this poem began with the image of the window as a “shield of glass”, and I regret the abstraction of “memories”, “the world”, and “Nature”. However the tone of quiet sadness, those stuttering commas after “tree”, “branches”, “air”, the short phrases all make unassuming music. I like the mysterious melancholy. Is she a woman in a room, or a tree outside the window, reaching its own wintry reflection?